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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24285817">country roads, take me home</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/emilia_kaisa/pseuds/emilia_kaisa'>emilia_kaisa</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Figure Skating RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Fluff and Humor, Getting to Know Each Other, Light Angst, M/M, Non-Graphic Smut, Not Beta Read, Romantic Comedy, Strangers to Lovers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 00:22:19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>21,177</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24285817</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/emilia_kaisa/pseuds/emilia_kaisa</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After barely avoiding another PR disaster that could put his band in bad light, Yuzuru is forced to leave Japan so he can lay low for a while and focus on preparing for a big step in his career.<br/>But of course, it won't be just some easy vacation in the countryside. Because there are also mosquitoes, scary horses and lack of wifi, and one illegally hot Spanish guy, blissfully unaware of Yuzuru's star status. </p>
<p>(aka a romantic comedy about change, learning about ourselves and- obviously- love)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Javier Fernández/Yuzuru Hanyu</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>112</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>145</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. prologue, or how Yuzuru Hanyu was exiled to Canada</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hi! I've been in a very picky writing mood lately, but this little thing brings me much joy, so here it is, a gift from myself to myself 😂It's an  attempt at writing a romantic comedy, because even I like a break from angst sometims :p Hope you enjoy!</p>
<p>(and yes I shamelessly borrowed the title from the iconic John Denver's song)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Brian was a great agent, truly. Not only had he great knowledge about the business and music market, but he was also kind and patient, which was a very valuable feature. They were working together pretty well and with not many conflicts, but now, seeing a deep frown on Brian's usually calm face, Yuzuru could tell that he was in trouble.</p><p>Well, to be honest, he wasn't that surprised, but he still smiled innocently, sipping on his iced coffee and pretending his hangover wasn't killing him. His mother could obviously tell, though, and he felt maybe a little sting of guilt when he saw how she was pressing her lips in a tight line speaking of disappointment, eyes filled with badly hidden tiredness and disapproval.</p><p>"You know why you're here, Yuzu."</p><p>It wasn't even a question, and Yuzuru had enough decency not to answer, just let her grab her tablet and swipe a few times before showing the screen to him. Yuzuru had been suspecting what he would see, but the picture on the gossip site still made him cringe, a little pang of guilt settling in his stomach. It was dark and clearly taken with a phone, but Yuzuru still could recognize himself in a very ambiguous position with that guy he had met in the club and whose name he definitely didn't remember.</p><p>"The tour ended two weeks ago and this is the third time we have to deal with something like this since then." his mother said, voice steady but cold "Yuzu, you were supposed to use that time to rest and prepare to entering the studio, not ignite scandals."</p><p>"Oh come on." Yuzuru huffed, rolling his eyes and trying not to show that a little part of him was actually embarrassed, but he didn't like to admit that he had messed up, especially when it was coming to something insignificant like that "Isn't it like, any press is good press?" he tried, looking at Brian.</p><p>"In theory." the older man sighed, stepping closer and gently taking the tablet away "But at that point of the band's career, we have to be careful. Western market is demanding, Yuzu, and we still want to keep your Japanese audience. We can't allow ourselves to ignite too many negative comments."</p><p>Brian was right, of course. They were preparing to record their new album, with most of the songs fully in English, hoping that would let them gain wider audience around the world. They had a solid position in the Japanese music industry, and although not all the fans were happy about how they were planning to turn their career, Yuzuru and the guys were pretty excited and sure that everything was going to be okay.</p><p>Yuzuru swallowed hard, the pang of guilt growing into a bitter wave rising up in his chest and making his throat clench unpleasantly. They truly didn't need bad press right now, and his heart stuttered with anxiety.</p><p>"Okay, I promise that it won't happen again. Really, word."</p><p>"Oh, it for sure won't happen again." his mother said, taking a now empty cup from his hands and tossing it to the trash can "Because we won't allow you to."</p><p>That wording was a little odd, and Yuzuru scrunched his nose with confusion, turning to look at Brian, who sent him an almost compassionate smile, but when he spoke a moment later, his voice was firm.</p><p>"We've decided that it would be good for you to disappear from under the radar for a while. So you can truly, hmm... have a moment for yourself. Maybe polish some lyrics-"</p><p>"Are you saying you're going to lock me inside a house or what." Yuzuru snorted, the idea sounding ridiculous, but neither his mother or Brian looked amused, and to be honest, the Canadian seemed mildly uncomfortable, glancing at Yumi as if to want her to explain.</p><p>"No, Yuzu." she said, voice hard as steel "We're saying that you're going to spend a month in a nice place with no opportunity to make a mess, and hopefully no phone reception."</p><p>"What the-" Yuzuru gasped, biting his tongue not to cuss in his mother's presence "Where?"</p><p> </p><hr/><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>"I can't believe this." Yuzuru hissed, taking some random piece of clothes from one of the drawers and throwing it behind him, perfectly aware that it probably missed the suitcase, and he didn't care at all "I'm an adult, why the hell do I let my mother and agent dictate my life?"</p><p>"Well first, your behaviour lately was kind of teenage-ish." Kazuki said mercilessly from where he was sitting on Yuzuru's bed with his legs crossed and a snickers in his hand "And second, they only want what's best for all of us, so maybe-"</p><p>"Don't treat me like I'm some kind of a villain!" Yuzuru exclaimed, turning around, but Kazuki wasn't impressed with his display of annoyance. He was the only one from the band that was in Sendai at the moment, rest of the guys taking well-deserved vacation; Kazuki was a great friend, and absolutely immune to Yuzuru’s swinging moods, and usually managed to talk him through all of his tantrums.</p><p>"I'm not." Kazuki said calmly "But dude, you've been acting a bit wild lately, so maybe some time off would do you good?"</p><p>"What do you mean wild." Yuzuru muttered, sitting down on the floor next to his suitcase, with clothes scattered around, results of his childish behavior from a moment before.</p><p>"You've always been kind of fidgety, but I feel like this whole new situation is making you all kinds of stressed and you do dumb shit."</p><p>"Oh please, I don't need a psychoanalysis." Yuzuru snorted, trying to cover for the weird itching in his throat "But, you know, I don't want you guys to suffer because of my-" he trailed off, waving awkwardly, and Kazuki smiled at him with sympathy.</p><p>"It's okay. We're all coping with the stress differently, so maybe you could use that trip to... to where-?"</p><p>"Manitoba." Yuzuru said flatly "Brian's friend has a ranch there. A ranch. Me on a ranch. Can you fucking imagine?"</p><p>"Well, maybe it will inspire you to write some country hit, we could use one more song on the album-"</p><p>“Shut up.” Yuzuru snorted, an unwanted vision of the band dressed in plaid shirts flashing in his mind “Although maybe that’s the right way to conquer America?”</p><p>“You see, there are pluses!” Kazuki exclaimed happily, leaning forward to see what Yuzuru was putting into the suitcase “Huh, I don’t think you will need your party shirt, although maybe I’m underestimating clubs in the middle of prairie-” </p><p>“Right.” Yuzuru sighed, putting the shiny thing away and reaching for a few rumpled cotton shirts “This is going to be a disaster.”</p><p>“Or maybe a life-changing experience? You never know!”</p><p> </p><p>Ha, if he had only known.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. part I- in which Yuzuru arrives to the place of his doom</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After twenty hours and two layovers Yuzuru finally landed on a small airport in a middle of nowhere, head heavy and tender and clothes clinging to his skin, and he just wanted to shower and sleep.</p><p>It was the smallest airport he had ever visited, and him and thirty people from his plane went through all the procedures smoothly, and then he stepped into an arrival hall that looked more like an corridor. Yuzuru looked around, feeling exhausted and annoyed, and he hated how sweaty his hand was, wrapped around the handle of his suitcase, and the guitar on his back seemed incredibly heavy. Brian’s friend- Tracy was her name, if Yuzuru was correct- was supposed to wait for him there, and it wasn’t hard to navigate her in the half empty place.</p><p>Tracy turned out to be a woman around Brian’s age, with blonde hair and warm smile, and a lot of energy in her step. Somehow she managed to make jeans and a simple white t-shirt fashionable and despite his general grumpiness, Yuzuru felt an immediate spark of sympathy towards her.</p><p>“Hello, you must be Yuzu! It’s so nice to meet you, honey, Brian told me so much about you.” she said, pulling him into a short, warm hug with no hesitation and then reaching to enormously big bag hanging off of her shoulder “Here, have some water, you look so tired.” she cooed, handing him a small bottle and then reaching to take one of his bags “Come, I hope you’ll be able to catch some sleep in the car, it’s almost two hours drive-”</p><p>Yuzuru had been sure he would have to try really hard to like Tracy, but now it was obvious that it was impossible not to like her. Of course, he still wasn’t happy about all of that, despite literally everyone telling him that it was a great opportunity- opportunity to what, to be eaten alive by mosquitos and bore himself to death? But still, Tracy seemed extremely kind, so Yuzuru smiled and followed her to an old pick-up that probably used to have some nice color but now was just grey, and climbed to his seat.</p><p>“So, Yuzu, are you excited?” Tracy asked, shooting him a smile before starting the engine, and Yuzuru had to bite his tongue not to tell her what he was thinking about this whole idea.</p><p>“A bit, hmm, anxious.” he chose to say, and it wasn’t really a lie, and Tracy’s expression turned soft as she glanced at him.</p><p>“Don’t worry, honey, we’ll take care of you.”</p><p>Yuzuru knew that Tracy knew about him, at least about who he was, maybe not why exactly he was sentenced to spend a month so far away from home. Which was good, Yuzuru didn’t want that kind lady to know about his questionable behaviour during the past weeks.</p><p>“And I have to say, I’m really happy to have some more company.” Tracy chuckled and that caught Yuzuru’s interest, even though he could slowly feel his eyes closing under the weight of sleep.</p><p>“You live there alone?”</p><p>“Well, not really, but now kind of.” Tracy said with a laughter “I have a husband and three sons, the oldest one moved to Calgary and two younger are with their father in Australia. My parents in law moved there a few years back and the boys love to visit. But I hate flying, and well, someone has to take care of the business.”</p><p>“And you’re doing it all by yourself?”</p><p>“Oh no, there is my friend from the town who comes to help, and also we have one boy visiting us every summer to work, he’s about your age so I think you’ll get along-”</p><p>“Mhh.” Yuzuru mumbled, not really politely, but he was exhausted and his bones hurt, and he kind of wanted to go home, so he welcomed sleep with open arms, and the last thought appearing in his head before passing out was a vague feeling that him and that ranch dude for sure weren’t going to get along.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Yuzuru woke up brutally when the car jumped on some bump on the road and he knocked his head against the window, letting out a little pained groan.</p><p>“Oh, I’m so sorry.” Tracy said, hands holding the steering wheel steadily “The last few kilometers are kind of tough.”</p><p>“It’s okay.” Yuzuru forced himself to say, rubbing the hurting spot on the back of his head “Are we close?”</p><p>“Yes, less than twenty minutes and we’re home!”</p><p>She seemed genuinely excited, so Yuzuru bit back any comment he could make and chose to examine the landscape instead, and he wasn’t freaking impressed. There was an ocean of grass on his right, ocean of grass on his left, and Yuzuru had never seen anything more depressing since that incredibly boring gangster movie Keiji made them watch during one sleepover. But at least the grass looked nice, and there were also some colorful flowers poking in between the green stalks. Not so far on the left he could see soft curves of hills bathed in the golden light of slowly setting sun. And Yuzuru guessed it was kind of pretty, but looking at that whole vast, open space, he felt small and a little bit homesick, which only led him to feel annoyed with himself. He was twenty-one years old, a successful guy with a tons of fans and decent money and great future ahead, and now he was suffering in an old car somewhere in the middle of Canada, with a nice but completely strange woman by his side, and he kind of wanted to cry.</p><p>“And here it is!” Tracy exclaimed, and Yuzuru blinked quickly, collecting himself together “That’s the place! This is the house, and that little building in the distance is our guesthouse, currently we have a really lovely elderly couple staying there. There, on the right, you see These are stables, and the paddock, and there is a vegetable garden, and the chicken house-”</p><p>“It’s… very big.” Yuzuru muttered, swallowing hard “But pretty!” he added quickly and Tracy smiled, clearly pleased.</p><p>“I’m happy you like it! I hope the month will pass pleasantly, there is a forest and a great lake nearby, I’m sure Javi will be happy to show you around-”</p><p>“Um, who?”</p><p>“That boy I mentioned before, helping me out when I’m alone. I think… oh, there he is!” she said brightly, waving at her right, and Yuzuru followed her gesture to see some guy fixing the fence about fifty metres away from the road. Yuzuru couldn’t see his face, but he noticed tanned skin, toned arms and hideous mustard t-shirt.</p><p>“Cool.” Yuzuru said, thinking the exact opposite. His plans for the next month contained mostly lying in his bed and thinking about his misery, and maybe, just maybe, polishing some songs like Brian and Kazuki had suggested. Keiji and Koshiro were writing too, but Yuzuru was the most fluent in English from all the guys in the band, and creating was coming to him quite easily. Well, usually, because lately he was having troubles with writing down even one line that would sound acceptable.</p><p>Tracy finally parked the car close to the door, and Yuzuru let out a quiet groan of relief when he stepped out to the hard ground, joints cracking a little, but it was good, to feel kind of anchored. He looked at the house and he had to admit that it looked really nice from the outside, painted white and with green shutters and flowers by the windows.</p><p>“Okay, I know you must be dreaming about the shower, so I will show you the way and then get the dinner started.”</p><p>“Thank you.” Yuzuru said, truly grateful for that.</p><p>She led him inside the house, and it looked- nice, rustical, like something he would see in some catalogue.</p><p>“Here’s the living room, dining room on the left, and there’s the kitchen- the phone is there, because mobiles don’t really have good reception in here.”</p><p>“I’ve heard.” Yuzuru said morosely, following Tracy up to stairs to the first floor “That’s okay.”</p><p>Hell if it was okay, but there was nothing he could do about it, and Tracy seemed to notice  that, smiling at him gently.</p><p>“This is my office on the left here, I have a lot of books there so you can pick whatever you like whenever you like.”</p><p>Lucky for Yuzuru, he didn’t have an opportunity to answer that, because then Tracy showed him his room and he almost cried when he saw how clean and tempting the bed looked.</p><p>“So, that’s it! If you need something just let me know, okay? The bathroom is at the end of the corridor, come down when you’re finished, so you can eat something.”</p><p>Showering had never felt better, and Yuzuru moaned softly at the soothing feeling of water on his skin, and how good it was to scrub all the sweat and dirt off. The bathroom was spacious and full of light, and it smelled vaguely of pines, which was was kind of relaxing. To be honest, after all the ablutions he would prefer to crash on the bed and sleep, but he was kind of hungry and he didn’t want to seem impolite. So he glanced into the mirror, combed his hair back with his fingers, and told himself to behave like a good guest.</p><p>That was really, truly a plan, but when Yuzuru walked into the kitchen and saw that Tracy wasn’t alone, he almost turned around and ran away.</p><p>“Hello.” a guy in a mustard shirt said, smiling brightly “You must be Yuzuru?”</p><p>“Yuzu.” Yuzuru said automatically “And you, uhm-”</p><p>“Javi. Great to meet you!” Javi said, stepping closer and reaching to shake Yuzuru’s hand, and his own palm was warm and calloused and a bit sweaty, and Yuzuru almost screeched out loud.</p><p>“Now excuse me, I will take a quick wash and I’m back in a second!”</p><p>“So, that was Javi.” Tracy chuckled, throwing onions into a pot “And one thing, we didn’t tell him who you are exactly, but he’s very trustworthy, me and Brian can vouch for that, so if anything-”</p><p>“He knows Brian?”</p><p>“Yes.” Tracy nodded, her smile turning nostalgic “Brian brought him here some years ago and since then Javi’s coming back every summer.”</p><p>Tracy looked like she wanted to say something more, but in the end just threw Yuzuru a warm glance and pointed one of the cupboards.</p><p>“Could you take the plates out? The food will be ready soon.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>“So, what’s bringing you here?” Javi asked ten minutes later when they were sitting over Tracy’s casserole “Looking for some peace and quiet?”</p><p>“I… yes.” Yuzuru stuttered, making a decision “My a- family suggested that it was a good place.”</p><p>“The best.” Javi nodded, sending Tracy a fond smile “What are you doing in life?”</p><p>“That’s… that’s something I have to figure out too.” Yuzuru chose to say before adding quickly “What about you?”</p><p>“Oh, I’m learning to be a PE teacher! And I train a junior hockey team back at home.”</p><p>“Which means-?”</p><p>"Spain. Madrid, to be specific."</p><p>That explained his accent, and Yuzuru nodded with acknowledgement before focusing on his food again. Javi seemed nice, but at that moment Yuzuru was so done and tired he was annoyed by everything, including the fact that Javi was so easy on the eyes. So Yuzuru ate his portion of casserole quickly and then excused himself, saying that he was tired and wanted to go to sleep, which wasn't a lie. He barely got changed into his pajamas and then collapsed face down on the bed, and didn't dream about anything at all.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>After three days spent on the ranch Yuzuru could tell, with full responsibility, that he would truly prefer being locked in his own room than stuck in that place.</p><p>He hated how loud the birds were at six in the morning, their loud chirping waking Yuzuru up and making him want to scream, he hated how mosquitoes were trying to eat him alive in the evenings and how extremely boring that whole place was. So despite sleeping the jet lag off pretty easily, Yuzuru was feeling tired and cranky, and it was taking some effort not to show it in front of Tracy. In general, Yuzuru was trying to avoid her, as much as he was trying to avoid Javi, wanting to stay away from his curious eyes and stupidly nice smile.</p><p>Although Yuzuru would lie if he said he wasn't feeling a string of interest towards the Spaniard. It was kind of refreshing, to be around someone close to his age not knowing who he was and not trying to get anything from him. Yuzuru was also curious about how Javi and Brian were connected, and why his agent hadn't mentioned that. But well, none of those things were strong enough to make him want to get to know the guy more, he was still too focused on feeling sorry for himself.</p><p>"Oh come on." Yuzuru whined, bringing the phone up and trying to catch some reception. Javi had mentioned during breakfast that it was possible to get one on two bars on the hill behind the house, so there he was, after climbing the slope for ten minutes, greedy for a contact.</p><p>“Hello, guys? Anyone there?”</p><p>The screen glitched, and after a moment he was able to see Keiji and Shoma, and after a moment Kazuki jumped in too, and Yuzuru only now realized that he was missing his friends so much already, even though he wouldn’t really admit that out loud.</p><p>“He’s alive! Hey Yuzu!” Koshiro waved enthusiastically “How are you!”</p><p>“Seems alive and well.” Shoma muttered, looking sleepy.</p><p>“I’m alive, but at what cost!” Yuzuru whined, angling the phone differently so they could have a better view on his surroundings “You see that? There’s nothing, literally nothing here!”</p><p>“It looks kind of pretty, tho!” Keiji said, his feed the most blurred of them all, but Yuzuru remembered that he was on some tropical island now, and his gut clenched with jealousy. </p><p>“Pretty boring, you mean.”</p><p>“So how are you spending your days, Yuzu?” Kazuki asked, smiling. He was wearing his glasses on, which meant he was probably practicing, and Yuzuru felt a little bad for not doing anything useful for the band lately.</p><p>“Uh, I just got my sleeping schedule fixed, But I will be trying to work on something soon-”</p><p>“Nah, don’t rush, it’s plenty of time! Maybe try to get some fun?”</p><p>“What fun.” Yuzuru snorted and Koshiro pouted; being the biggest sweetheart in the world, he immediately got upset thinking that Yuzuru wasn’t enjoying himself. </p><p>“Come on, it’s a ranch! Aren’t there any sexy cowboys?” Keiji joked and Yuzuru laughed, rolling his eyes. </p><p>“Well there is one Spanish dude, pretty good-looking, but yeah, nope.”</p><p>“You’re that afraid of Brian?” Shoma chuckled, and Yuzuru couldn’t help but noticed the way Keiji grimaced a little, and Yuzuru’s stomach churned unpleasantly. </p><p>“Ha ha, so funny. Okay, I gotta go and find a way not to die in here. See you soon guys!”</p><p>“Bye!”</p><p>Just like he had suspected, exactly ten seconds after breaking the connection he got an incoming video call from Keiji. For a moment he considered ignoring it, but he knew that Keiji- everyone’s big brother- wouldn’t let him go that easily.</p><p>“Can’t live without me already?”</p><p>“Mhh, drop that.” Keiji hummed, not amused “Now spill.”</p><p>“Spill what?”</p><p>“How are you feeling?”</p><p>“Except bored?”</p><p>“Oh my god, shut the fuck up.” Keiji sighed, rubbing his forehead “I’ve been wanting to talk to you for weeks and this isn’t how I planned it to go, but-”</p><p>‘Listen, I’m not in a mood for scolding-”</p><p>“I don’t want to scold you, I just worry.” Keiji said and Yuzuru bit his tongue, knowing that he deserved to hear that “We’ve been friends for long enough for me to know that something is off. And I know you don’t shy away from some fun from time to time, but that circus you’ve been pulling off lately? That’s not you.”</p><p>“Maybe it is.” Yuzuru mumbled, squeezing his phone so hard his fingers hurt “I gotta go, battery is dying.”</p><p>“Yu-”</p><p>Yuzuru hang up and shoved the phone into his pocket angrily, and closed his eyes before he would so something embarrassing, like start crying. What the hell was he even doing? He was young and famous and had everything, so why was he feeling wrong?</p><p>He collected himself quickly, annoyed, and started walking down the hill slowly. It was late morning and it was pretty warm already, and Yuzuru would give so much for a sunbed in a shade and some cool cocktail. But there was no chance for that for the next twenty- eight days and Yuzuru felt himself slowly accepting the fact that he was going to be stuck there with him and his own thoughts.</p><p>“Morning! Early walk?”</p><p>Yuzuru stopped, surprised, and realized that he was just passing the paddock, and the person calling him was Javi, waving at him with one hand while the other was stroking mane of a chestnut horse standing by his side. It would be impolite to ignore him, so Yuzuru moved closer to the fence, eyeing the animal carefully.</p><p>“Tried to get some reception.” he explained and Javi nodded before tilting his head a little, and the smile that appeared on his lips made Yuzuru’s skin itch for some unknown reasons.</p><p>“You don’t like it here, do you?”</p><p>“I-” Yuzuru hesitated, a bit surprised by the straightforward question, and he didn’t even have time to come up with some excuse “It wasn’t my idea to come here.”</p><p>“I can tell.” Javi chuckled, patting the horse’s neck before stepping closer and standing right in front of Yuzuru “And it’s totally valid, you know. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, just… if you’d like to hang out or something, I’m here. I swear I don’t bite, and I could show you around so you-” he hesitated, making a weird hand gesture, and Yuzuru raised his eyebrows.</p><p>“I what?”</p><p>“I don’t think it’s a good idea to waste your summer on insisting to feel miserable.” Javi said and Yuzuru gasped, stunned by the bluntness. His first thought was to bite back, but then he realized that Javi had a point, and he felt embarrassed that a stranger had already made observations like that about him.</p><p>“Thanks.” he said dumbly, taking a step back “I will… see you later.”</p><p>Javi nodded, and waved at him again before turning around and walking away. </p><p>Deep in thought, Yuzuru strolled to the house, and almost bumped into Tracy who was just leaving the house with a basket in her hands and a big hat on her head. </p><p>“Hello honey, you had a nice walk?”</p><p>“Yeah. Where are you heading?”</p><p>“Just to do some work with vegetables, pick some up.”</p><p>“I will… go with you. Help you out, if it’s okay?” Yuzuru offered, deciding that it would be nice to do something for her, since she was such a lovely host. </p><p>“Ah, that’s so nice of you, let’s go then!”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>As it turned out, working in the garden was kind of fun, especially when he had a good company. Tracy was talking about living on the ranch with so much enthusiasm Yuzuru almost saw the appeal for a moment. </p><p>“I’m going to make this cold soup for lunch with these, and then maybe some salad to the dinner.” Tracy hummed “Is there something you would like to try.”</p><p>“I eat everything.”</p><p>It wasn’t exactly true, but he wasn’t going to be picky. He knew that he wasn’t an ideal guest with his attitude, so the least he could do was to not complain about food.</p><p>“Okay then, I- oh Yuzu.” Tracy gasped and he blinked, confused.</p><p>“What have I-”</p><p>“Did you put some sunscreen on?”</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Yuzuru was sitting on the porch, with a glass a very tasty iced tea in his hands and eyes wandering on the horizon, and he guessed it looked kind of pretty, the way the grass was bending under the light wind, and the light was nice too, all gold and orange. He couldn’t really appreciate that, because his face and neck hurt, and so did his legs, and he wondered if he would be able to get up from the chair he was sitting on. Maybe he could just spent the entire night there, or maybe the herds of mosquitoes that were starting to gather around him would eat him alive and end his misery. </p><p>He felt tired and lonely, and he had that strong urge to call his mom, but he didn’t have energy neither to stand up or calculate time zones, so he just stayed at the same spot, watching the setting sun. A few weeks ago he had been standing on a stage in front of thousands of people singing alongside him, and now there he was, sunburnt and feeling like a stupid child, his usual confidence having evaporated somewhere. </p><p>The door cracked quietly, a quiet footsteps approaching him, and Yuzuru gained control over his facial expression just as Javi appeared in front of him, grabbing a chair and sitting close, smiling at him with sympathy.</p><p>“I had this in my suitcase.” he said, showing Yuzuru a little green bottle “It’s aloe gel, really good for sunburns.”</p><p>“Thanks.” Yuzuru muttered, and he didn’t even have energy to reach for it. </p><p>Javi looked at him for a moment, eyes kind and searching, and then uncapped the bottle.</p><p>“Can I?” he asked, and before Yuzuru could realize what was going on, Javi was reaching to put some soothing substance on his face.</p><p>It was unexpected, but not unpleasant, and Yuzuru closed his eyes, wondering vaguely when was the last time a relative stranger acted so kindly towards him, touched him without hoping to gain anything. Usually, Yuzuru didn’t mind that much. He knew what he had been signing for when he decided he wanted to pursue his music career, and he quite enjoyed all the entertainment and easy company it was giving him. It also taught him to distance himself emotionally, and he grew to like that shell he built. But now, on that quiet evening, he felt totally small and exposed, and then Javi run his thumb along his cheekbone, and Yuzuru’s composure cracked for a second, a little thin line in his facade.</p><p>“Thanks.” Yuzuru croaked, opening his eyes, and to his horror he felt a few tears running down his face, and he couldn’t even laugh it away because the only sound he could make was an embarrassing sniffle.</p><p>“Hey.” Javi murmured, taking his hand away and putting it on Yuzuru’s knee instead “What's going on? Are you okay?”</p><p>“Just got some gel in my eyes.” </p><p>“Sorry.” Javi said softly “Do you want me to bring you a tissue?”</p><p>“Yes, please.” </p><p>“Okay, be right back.” Javi smiled, patting Yuzuru’s knee before standing up and walking away.</p><p>Yuzuru sighed, shaking his head and wiping his eyes with slightly annoyed gesture. Seriously, he could use a shot and some loud music to drown all of that away, even for the price of hearing later that his coping mechanism were unhealthy, but-</p><p>“Ouch!” he hissed, slapping his arm, but the mosquito avoided certain death by flying away, buzzing happily and leaving Yuzuru’s skin itching.</p><p>Well, fucking fantastic. Yuzuru couldn’t wait to go back home and never visit this place again.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm having a list of rom com tropes to tick off, how is it going so far? 😂</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. part II- in which Yuzuru tries to adapt, gets a reward and unwittingly sets himself up for a disaster</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Okay, and now we just add this and we’re good to go!” Tracy exclaimed, taking a bit of sugar and sprinkling it over the tray “Then hop to the oven and we will have a nice snack.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yuzuru nodded, dutifully covering the cookies with sugar, wondering briefly what people would say at that imagine- him, taking baking lessons. His bandmates would probably die from laughter, but he could imagine some of his fans being delighted with that, he made a mental note to save the photoshoot idea for later.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Perfect!” Tracy smiled, taking the tray and setting the timer on “Thank you so much for your help!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thank you for teaching me.” Yuzuru answered, making sure his own smile was sugar sweet. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It quickly turned out that Yuzuru’s ability to handle boredom had its limits, so asking Tracy to show him how to cook seemed like the least terrible thing he could come up with. Tracy was happy to do so, so for the past two days Yuzuru was following her like a shadow around the kitchen, and to be honest, he was enjoying that a lot. He almost chopped his fingernails off a few times, and he burned his tongue while tasting cayenne pepper, but he discovered that it was actually quite satisfying, to have a hand in creating something nice and tasty. And maybe it could pay off in the future, when him and the guys would be done with eating instant noodles for the whole tour. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Something smells great!” Javi exclaimed, walking into the kitchen and reaching for a glass to pour himself some water “Tracy, I wanted to keep working on the fence, but I would need more nails, and some wire. Can I take the car and go to the town?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course! That’s perfect, I’ll give you a grocery list, where is my pen-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Cool.” Javi smiled easily before looking at Yuzuru “You want to come with me?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“To the town?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah. It’s not far, ten kilometers, but maybe you’d like a little trip? And there is pretty decent phone reception.” Javi added and Yuzuru nodded fiercely. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, just let me change!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Just a simple thought that he was going to see civilization was making him kind of ecstatic. He ran upstairs and quickly found one of the two least boring shirts (read one with a nice v-neck, very expensive but no one there would know anyway), reapplied deodorant and fixed his hair- and he was ready to show himself among people. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nice shirt!” Javi complimented him the moment Yuzuru stepped out of the house, and Yuzuru almost paid him back, but he was too busy biting at his lower lip and trying not  to gape. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Javi had changed too, and he was looking ridiculously good in a simple white t-shirt that was just on the right side of tight. Also, he had sunglasses on, and he was leaning against the car and effortlessly looking like taken from some magazine, or a cover of a novel. And okay, the sight wasn’t bad at all, and Yuzuru felt that warm little swirl in his stomach that would appear when he saw someone pleasantly-looking. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You seem excited.” Javi noticed when they got into the car and he started the engine, and Yuzuru shrugged, sending him a little smile. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I love adventures.” he said, and if he let his voice be a little sarcastic, Javi didn’t seem to pick it up, or he just decided to ignore it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I mean in general, also.” Javi said, eyes focused on the road, but when Yuzuru looked at him, he saw the usual smile playing on his lips “You’ve been smiling more these past few days.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yuzuru gasped, surprised by that comment, and he wondered if it was true. Well, it could be. He still wasn’t exstatic, but spending a lot of time with Tracy clearly had some calming influence. Yuzuru was still counting days till his return flight, but there was still plenty of time he had to fill with something to do. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m going with the flow.” he said and Javi chuckled brightly, glancing at him with a smile.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How’s figuring out life going on?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Umh.” Yuzuru gulped, looking down at his hands “Slow.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Javi hummed with sympathy and didn’t press further, and Yuzuru was really glad. He didn’t really have any story prepared, and telling Javi the truth wasn’t really an option. There would be really nothing good coming out of it, and even though Javi seemed like a good and trustworthy guy, Yuzuru wasn’t going to risk it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>After ten more minutes they reached an asphalt road, and two kilometers later the entered the town. It wasn’t big or exceptionally beautiful, but Yuzuru was excited to see people and stores, and life in general. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>‘Okay, we’re gonna stop here.” Javi hummed, pulling over “First groceries, then home  improvement store. You want to stop somewhere too?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m good.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It wasn’t exciting, but it was kind of fun, following Javi around, ticking off items from the list. Yuzuru hadn’t been on a regular grocery shopping for ages. It was kind of refreshing, not to be recognized while going out, even though usually Yuzuru liked a little bit of attention. But he had been expecting that Canada would be different, so it was all good.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Well, hopefully soon some people would know him and the band, but for now he was dutifully carrying the basket and putting there everything Javi told him to. He wasn’t planning on buying anything for himself, but when he saw cans of soda, and he craved that like nothing in his life. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You should have taken a six-pac.” Javi laughed as they walked to another store “Missed that?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah. I like my sugar.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yuzuru thought that visit in the home improvement store would be quick and uneventful, but the moment they walked in, the man standing behind the counter smiled so brightly he lit up the entire room.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Javi, you’re back! Come here, son, let me take a look at you-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was clear that they knew each other well, and Yuzuru wondered what had brought Javi to that place for the first time. He put the question for later for a moment, and while the other men were still talking, he checked his social media. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The band had its profiles ran by Brian’s assistant, and Yuzuru himself had a twitter account he didn’t use too often, and a private instagram he used mostly to stalk others. The fandom seemed to starting to notice his absence, he saw some</span>
  <em>
    <span> #whereisyuzu</span>
  </em>
  <span> thing going on, and for some reason it made him feel uneasy. He shoved the phone back to his pocket just in time, because Javi seemed to be done with talking and shopping, and was now approaching Yuzuru with his usual smile. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You have friends everywhere.” Yuzuru noticed when they got back to the car “How long have you been coming here?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I think… five years? Yeah, five.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wow, that’s-” Yuzuru cut himself off and Javi glanced at him with amusement.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Can’t imagine someone coming here willingly so much?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s not what I said.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I know, I know.” Javi laughed, shaking his head “But I can tell you the story, if you want.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Only if you want to tell.” Yuzuru smiled slightly, trying not to show that he was dying from curiosity.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s not a secret or anything. But to tell a story, we need to change a location.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ten minutes later they were sitting on a trunk of the pick up, parked next to a fast food restaurant right outside the town border, with shakes in their hands and feet dangling in the air.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So, to find the beginning of the path leading me all the way from Spain to this lovely place, we need to go way back to the distant past when I was the most adorable child in the whole city...” Javi started and Yuzuru managed to hide a snort by taking a sip of his strawberry shake. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t worry, it’s not going to be long tho.” Javi chuckled “Anyway, when I was a kid, I started training ice hockey. To be specific, first I tried figure skating, like my sister, but switched to hockey after a while. Seemed more exciting.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Cool!” Yuzuru exclaimed, honestly impressed. He would have never guessed Javi tried figure skating, but he could totally picture Javi in some of those pretty outfits he saw on tv from time to time. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Right? I guess I was kind of good, but I never treated it too seriously, winter sports in Spain are endangered species.” Javi chuckled, but Yuzuru didn’t miss a little spark of nostalgia in his eyes “But one time I managed to get into a camp in Canada and I met a guy there, and he, I quote, </span>
  <em>
    <span>saw my potential</span>
  </em>
  <span> and offered to help me. So I ended up moving to Toronto at sixteen years old-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alone?” Yuzuru gasped, and Javi shrugged, smiling sheepishly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah. But Brian was a great help-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Brian?!” Yuzuru exclaimed, a bit too loudly, but Javi didn’t seem to find it odd.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, that guy I mentioned before. He used to be a hockey player too, then he became sports agents, but he moved to music industry later. Told me he got tired of hockey  playground.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh.” Yuzuru nodded absently, his thoughts racing. He vaguely remembered Brian complaining about his knees, and maybe he was mentioning something about his past, but Yuzuru never really payed attention to that, and now he was up for surprises.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Anyway, I spent there… three years? Playing and trying to finish school, and then-” he patted his thigh, smile dimming a little but still staying on his lips “Got a little accident.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh no.” Yuzuru hummed with sympathy “Bad?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Not that tragic. It kept me off the ice for some time, but it healed nicely and I was good to go, I just… wasn’t sure if I wanted to do it anymore. It was hard, that time, you know. I was nineteen, in pain and far away from home, and I was questioning if that was how I wanted to spend my life. So Brian brought me here, so I could rest and think. And I loved it so much in here I’m coming back here every year, to help Tracy out and catch a break from life . She is amazing, so… that’s the story!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Javi’s smile was bright and wide again, and Yuzuru had to look away for a moment, Javi’s open expression making his stomach flip for some reason.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wow.” he muttered, immediately feeling dumb “That’s.... quite a story.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Right?” Javi laughed, hopping off of the trunk and standing close, looking Yuzuru from up close “Also, I guess what I want to say… it’s a good place, to think about life. So whatever you’re going through, I hope you can sort it out. Truly.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thank you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yuzuru still couldn’t quite bring himself to look Javi in the eyes, and suddenly he was feeling really uneasy with hiding the truth about himself from the Spaniard. Should he reveal who he was and that he knew Brian? But wouldn’t that be awkward at that point? And well, was there really a need for that, it was better safe than sorry-</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Being too busy with complimenting the possible awkwardness of that hypothetical conversation, Yuzuru missed the chance as Javi announced that it was time to head back so they wouldn’t keep Tracy waiting. Yuzuru nodded absently, deciding firmly that he wasn’t going to break his head over it. In twenty-five days it wouldn’t matter anyway.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>In the evening, Yuzuru finally took his guitar out of its case, and brought it to the porch. It was warm and calm, and fortunately there was no mosquitoes in sight, probably thanks to those special candles Tracy had lit up earlier. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When he was passing by the kitchen, Tracy called him and handed him a bowl of cookies, telling him that they turned out great, and a few minutes later Javi- who was already sitting outside- shared the opinion with enthusiasm.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I didn’t know you were playing a guitar!” he exclaimed, and Yuzuru debated with himself whether he really wanted to play in front of Javi, but he didn’t want to seem rude. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s a hobby.” he said, sitting down comfortably and trying a few chords. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I wanted to learn how to play, but never got into it.” Javi admitted with a quiet laughter “But I guess I’m lacking manual skills for that.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, since I’ve come here you’re doing all the crazy stuff, your manual skills seem to be great.” Yuzuru said lightly. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He was feeling very relaxed, as if holding his instrument was having some calming effect. He always loved playing guitar, since he had been a little boy, and he always thought that he was very fortunate that his hobby became his job. But sometimes there were days, weeks even, when he just didn’t feel like picking the guitar up, his skin crawling in a way he couldn’t understand. He had barely touched the instrument since the end of the tour, when he was too busy getting lost in parties and too many drinks. But now, during that warm evening, seeing Javi’s warm smile- it felt strangely right.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You want to try?” he offered and Javi shook his head, smiling a bit wider.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m good. But maybe play me something?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What exactly?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Just, your favorite song. You sing too?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“A bit.” Yuzuru chuckled “Can it be in Japanese?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sure!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yuzuru played one of the songs from their first album, a calm ballad with a melody he was really proud of and lyrics he was finding quite corny now, but Javi seemed to be truly impressed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wow, you’re great!” he exclaimed, and Yuzuru smiled, pleased with the praise “You should, like, go to some talent show or something!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yuzuru just chuckled, letting his fingers dance on the strings, and Javi’s smile softened, as if he understood something. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You really love it.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I do.” Yuzuru nodded, not even thinking about it “It’s… yeah.” he shrugged sheepishly, and Javi nodded, his eyes shining in the candlelight. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah.” Javi echoed, laughing a little “I’m glad you’re here, you know?” he said suddenly and Yuzuru stopped playing, his heart skipping a beat with surprise.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Really?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Really. I mean, you’re still giving me some grumpy vibes from time to time, but you’re cool, in general.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thanks.” Yuzuru snorted, amused “You’re kinda cool too.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh yeah? Not the worst person you could be stuck with in the middle of nowhere?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Not the worst.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll take it.” Javi chuckled “Now play something more?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yuzuru moved carefully, reaching to grab a leaf of a dandelion, and the hen clucked, stretching its neck with interest on the other side of a net surrounding chicken range. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You want some? Very tasty, green is healthy.” Yuzuru muttered, slowly reaching out and poking the leaf through the wide net, and the hen moved rapidly, snatching it from Yuzuru’s fingers and chewing enthusiastically. That caught an interest of the whole herd of chickens, running towards Yuzuru and loudly demanding to be treated equally.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do not worry, my children, I will feed you all!” Yuzuru exclaimed dramatically, reaching to gather more leaves and wondering if he was going a little bit crazy, but the loud laughter behind him made him stop and turn around.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m sorry to interrupt, but there’s a call for you.” Javi said, his eyes twinkling with amusement “Your sister?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, Saya!” Yuzuru brightened up “Thanks!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sure. I was a bit confused, because it’s so late in Japan now-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“She’s living in Vienna now.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nice!” Javi grinned as they entered the house “I will give you some privacy.” he added, heading to the living room while Yuzuru entered the kitchen, where the phone was. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Saya?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hello, little brother!” she laughed brightly “Wanted to check how you’re doing in your exile?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Might be going a little bit out of my mind, but I’m embracing it. I’ve conquered my fear of live chickens.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m so proud of you.” Saya exclaimed, and then chuckled softly “But now a little more serious. You okay?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah.” Yuzuru sighed “I mean… it’s not my dream place, but I’m adapting. And mom and Brian are happy because there is no way I could cause any trouble here.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh Yuzu.” Saya hummed, and Yuzuru braced himself for some gentle scolding “I’m a bit worried about you, you know?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“There is no reason.” Yuzuru said quickly “Okay, I admit, I got a bit overboard with some parties but I’m totally fine.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay.” she sighed, giving up and changing the topic “Who was that guy who picked up? He had a fun accent.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s Javi, he’s from Spain.” Yuzuru explained, and suddenly felt his cheeks going warm, and he wondered if maybe he got sunburnt again “He’s nice.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That's good that you have some company.” Saya said, sounding honestly glad “You think you guys are going to be friends?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I, maybe?” Yuzuru mumbled, choosing to brush the question away “Anyway, tell me what’s new? How’s the research going, and what about that guy who asked you out-?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They talked for about twenty minutes more and then Yuzuru hang up feeling warm and calm. Saya was his favorite person on Earth, and even though they maybe weren’t as close as they had used to be when they were kids, their bond was still strong. Yuzuru missed her a lot, and he hoped that they would be able to see each other soon, in Japan or maybe in Europe during the band’s tour. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Can I?” Javi asked, poking his head into the kitchen, and Yuzuru nodded.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, just finished.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Javi smiled and walked to pour himself some lemonade from the fridge.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Good talk?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah. I miss her a lot.” Yuzuru admitted without thinking, and Javi nodded with understanding.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I get you. I love coming here but I start missing everyone after like a week.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Aww, so you’re that type.” Yuzuru teased and Javi laughed, the sound filling Yuzuru’s chest with unexpected but pleasant warmth.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, I’m that type. I already know I’ll be missing you when you leave.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Javi’s tone was light and easy, but Yuzuru’s cheeks burned even hotter than before, and he looked down at his feet, not really understanding why he was flustered by that perfectly nice, innocent comment. Javi was just being funny like always, there was no reason to get stressed about it, but suddenly all Yuzuru could think of was that Javi had a really charming smile and that he would probably miss him too, a tiny bit.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“By the way, I’ve been thinking!” Javi snapped his fingers, breaking the short silence that thankfully didn’t grow awkward yet “You still haven’t seen the lake, maybe you’d like to go today? We could swim a little!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, sounds cool!” Yuzuru agreed quickly “How do we get there?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Javi grinned.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“No. No way. Nope.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh come on, you told me you liked adventures!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Adventures yes, horses- no. I have no idea what to do!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t worry, Ricky is the angel among horses. You just have to hold tight and he’ll do the job, and I’ll be close in case of anything. It’s going to be okay, I promise.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yuzuru swallowed hard, and looked at the horse in front of him, calmly munching on hay. It looked harmless, but Yuzuru didn’t really trusted animals bigger than cats. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Promise?” he made sure, and Javi put one hand over his heart, nodding.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I swear.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He seemed really confident, so Yuzuru sighed deeply, giving up and slowly coming closer. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay, so how to I get there?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was kind of embarrassing, Yuzuru’s first attempts to get on the horse, and if it wasn’t for Javi’s help, Yuzuru would have fallen on his butt at least three times. But when he finally managed to sit in the saddle, he exhaled with satisfaction, and he was pretty happy with how patient the horse was, not moving an inch even when Yuzuru had been wriggling like a warm.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“See, not so bad.” Javi chuckled, grinning at Yuzuru and patting the horse’s neck “Good boy.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What?” Yuzuru wheezed, neck and face turning hot in an instant.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I was talking to Ricky.” Javi said with a smug grin and Yuzuru kind of wished to fall from the horse and to the core of the Earth. Luckily, Javi decided to take mercy on him and didn’t comment that any further, just got on another horse and told Yuzuru to relax. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>When they arrived to the lake half an hour later, Yuzuru was exhausted and drowning in his own sweat, both a result of him being terrified and half- expecting to die. Nothing bad happened, though, and when they stopped and slid to the ground- in Yuzuru’s case it was borderline falling like a sack of potatoes- Yuzuru had to admit that it might have been worth it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Beautiful, isn’t it?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah.” Yuzuru sighed, because it truly was a nice view. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The lake was big and surrounded by trees, green leaves mirroring in crystal clear water. He wasn’t admiring the landscape for too long, though, because then Javi started removing his clothes and well, Yuzuru was only human. He reached to grab the hem of his own t-shirt, but he kind of froze mid-motion, mesmerized by the sight of Javi’s tanned back in front of him. It was a nice back, and Yuzuru would look at it longer, but in that moment Javi was getting rid of his pants, and Yuzuru’s gaze immediately traveled lower. His gaze only skimmed over Javi’s ass, he wasn’t a pervert who would stare shamelessly, but he let his gaze travel down Javi’s legs, and he immediately spotted a long, thin scar on his right calf. He remembered what Javi had told him about the injury, and Yuzuru felt a bit uneasy, so he looked away, fidgeting with his own clothes. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re lagging behind!” Javi laughed, throwing Yuzuru a smile over his shoulder, and his competitive spirit woke up from its slumber. He basically ran to the water, squealing when it turned out to be colder than he had been expecting; but it felt good against his hot, sweaty skin, and Yuzuru sighed contentedly, walking until water grazed his collarbones. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I see you’re into it, huh?” Javo noticed, coming closer, and Yuzuru hummed quietly, closing his eyes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I love water.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Swimming was always one of his favorite things, but he wasn't doing that a lot lately. He stopped going to the public swimming pools after that one time a thousand of pics appeared on the Internet, and Yuzuru didn’t want to ever read that kind of comments about his body parts ever again. His mother was also pleased when he decided that he wasn’t going to walk around in swimming trunks unless it was a private pool or some half-deserted beach. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But well, small price for fame, right? Shame there was so many little prices he hadn’t thought through before-</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you having a moment?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yuzuru gasped, opening his eyes and almost choking on water, his face getting warm with embarrassment. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Mhh.” he mumbled before deciding to take a dive and for a moment everything was perfect. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And when he came back to the surface it was kind of perfect still, because well, the place and weather were beautiful, and the way Javi smiled was making Yuzuru feel oddly glad. He couldn’t help but think that there was some connection forming, which was weird and unexpected, because that wasn’t Yuzuru’s cup of tea. He liked people, but most of his encounters contained a few hours or two, three days. He believed that he only needed his family, his bandmates, and now Brian, and he didn’t think he was able to trust anyone else. Friends and relationsips were a luxury Yuzuru couldn’t allow himself to have, or at least that was what he was telling himself.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, you alright?” Javi asked, getting a bit closer, still smiling but also looking a little concerned “You got all-” he shrugged and made a funny face, and Yuzuru shrugged, moving  back a bit.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I think my feet got a little cold.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well let’ go back then! Wr don’t want you to freeze your toes off.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The grass was soft and Yuzuru sighed when he sat down on it, sunrays pleasant against his skin.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’ll have to get some sunscreen in a moment.” Javi noticed, a trace of laughter in is voice, and Yuzuru chuckled, looking at him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I will never forget again.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Good. You have to protect your skin.” Javi hummed, reaching out and running his finger down Yuzuru’s arm and making his heart jump.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is this, are you-” Yuzuru stammered, questions and suspicions finally making their way up his throat and tying his tongue “Are you flirting with me?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Maybe a little bit.” Javi admitted unbashedly, dropping his hand to the ground “But if you’re not into it, one word and I’m stopping.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I, uh- you’re nice but I’m not looking for… that.” Yuzuru stammered, feeling extremely dumb, and Javi chuckled good-naturedly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s fair.” he hummed before laying down on the grass, closing his eyes and stretching a little “Five minutes and we can get back?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay.” Yuzuru mumbled, busy having a moment. Because suddenly he could picture it very easily, a nice little thing to bright up the rest of the summer. Javi was undoubtedly handsome, very fun and caring, and had no idea about Yuzuru’s life, so any threat of things turning messy was almost non- existing. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yuzuru chewed on his lower lip, and let his eyes wander down, checking the lean body next to him, and the hot sparks coiling in his stomach couldn’t be mistaken for anything else than arousal.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I have a feeling you’re staring at me.” Javi hummed, eyes still closed, and Yuzuru told himself </span>
  <em>
    <span>screw it.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I was just wondering if I can change my mind?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Javi opened one eye and looked at Yuzuru with amusement, a grin spreading on his lips.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh yes?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah. If that’s okay.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, Yuzu.” Javi sighed, sitting up, and suddenly his nose was very close to Yuzuru’s “I usually go by the rule that the first word counts, but for you I’ll make an exception.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Definitely.” Javi chuckled before closing the distance between their lips. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was short and sweet, as if Javi was making sure Yuzuru was up for that for sure, and yes, Yuzuru definitely was into it. He slid his hand to the back of Javi’s head, fingers curling in his hair as he kept him close, letting the kiss turn deeper, and honestly, it was the best idea he had since coming to that damn ranch. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Javi seemd to be sharing the sentiment, because he was returning the kisses with much enthusiasm, hand coming to stroke Yuzuru’s back.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re very hot.” he hummed and Yuzuru shivered, pleased with the compliment. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thanks.” he mumbled, and Javi laughed shortly, kissing the corner of Yuzuru’s mouth before pulling back a little. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I mean that your skin is very warm and we should probably move to the shadow, but well, I guess you’re all kind of hot-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh god.” Yuzuru groaned, dropping his forehead to Javi’s shoulder for a second and then standng up “Okay, let’s go before I burn, hey, what-” he yelped, feeling a strong arm wrapping around his waist and pulling him closer “What are you doing?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Just-” Javi chuckled, reaching to brush Yuzuru’s bangs away “It’s going to be fun three weeks, I think.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You know what? You might be right.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Yuzu, don't you know that secrets=drama, you dum dum</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. part III- in which things go great, and then they don't</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Everything looks alright in here.” Brian said, sounding pleased but a little bit tired “I talked with the studio and made sure all is prepared, also! Misha is apparently back from his trip to China so he’ll be working with us again.”</p><p>“That’s great, he feels the music so much.” Yuzuru commented, truly glad “How’s the media?”</p><p>“Good! I have to say, your little disappearance from the public eye caught some attention, so we’re on a high wave now, the interest about new album is increasing.”</p><p>“That’s good.” Yuzuru breathed out, relieved, and Brian hummed with sympathy.</p><p>“And how are you holding on? You’re okay?”</p><p>“I’m good. I think I grew to like fresh air.” </p><p>Yuzuru wondered if he should talk with Brian about Javi, but decided against it. There was no reason to touch the subject that could make everything more complicated, so Yuzuru just chatted with him for a moment before hanging up and breathing out deeply.</p><p>“I’ll be outside!” he exclaimed in the direction of kitchen where Tracy was.</p><p>“Have fun, honey!”</p><p>Yuzuru intended to have the best fun, that was why he ran around in his search for Javi, and found him quite easily, watering vegetables in the garden. </p><p>“Damn, I thought you were supposed to come for a vacation here and not perform free labor.” Yuzuru teased and Javi grinned widely, directing the garden hose at Yuzuru and splashing him with a bit of water, making him squeal.</p><p>“Hey!”</p><p>“Sorry, sorry!”</p><p>“You’re terrible.” Yuzuru sighed, stepping closer and wrapping his arms around Javi’s neck “The worst.”</p><p>“I know, right?” Javi hummed, grabbing Yuzuru’s hips to keep him closer, and leaning in for a kiss. </p><p>Javi’s mouth tasted like coffee and just a hint of salt, and Yuzuru was very into that, more than he could ever expect. Only now he was realizing how much he had been missing genuine human touch, and with Javi he was getting plenty of that.</p><p>“Let’s go.” Javi decided, taking Yuzuru’s hand and walking slowly in a general direction of the stables “I have a game proposition.” </p><p>“And what are the rules?”</p><p>“I’ll tell you three facts about myself and then you do the same.”</p><p>“Exciting.” Yuzuru said, and it took all his power not to roll his eyes, but Javi only laughed. </p><p>“You know, it’s kinda cute how you try to fool me with all that sarcasm, but we both know it’s just a cover up.”</p><p>“Give me three facts!” Yuzuru yelled to cut the subject off, and Javi laughed again, entwining their fingers together.</p><p>“First, I love cats and I miss mine before I start missing my family. Second, I love musicals, and third, I-” he stopped, bringing one hand to stroke Yuzuru’s cheek “Third, my quest for the rest of your stay is to get to know you better and crash any resistance.”</p><p>“You can try.” Yuzuru snorted, trying to move into a joke territory, but Javi only narrowed his eyes playfully, his hand still pressing gently against Yuzuru’s face and kind of melting some walls of his restraint. </p><p>“So, where are three facts for me?” Javi asked, and Yuzuru sighed quietly, leaning into a touch and surprising himself with that, but he couldn’t really help it. </p><p>“First thing, I’m… not the most likeable person-”</p><p>“Oh wait, there is a rule, we don’t tell the obvious and we don’t lie!”</p><p>“So it’s an obvious thing or a lie?”</p><p>“Guess.” Javi smiled, leaning to brush his lips against Yuzuru’s “And try again.”</p><p>“Mhhh I hate green pepper.” Yuzuru muttered, his head swimming little, as if he still wasn’t really used to Javi’s closeness, even though he was craving it so much “Second, I secretly  like classical music, and I’m scared of turtles, and I’m definitely not letting you crush my resistance-”</p><p>“That was four facts.” Javi murmured, pulling him closer and burying his face in the curve of Yuzuru’s neck “You want to go with the flow and add two more?”</p><p>“Just one.” Yuzuru huffed, pulling back to look at Javi’s face “My resistance is very tough.”</p><p>“Oh, I know that.” Javi laughed, grabbing Yuzuru’s chin and tilting it up “But it never hurts to try.”</p><p> </p><hr/><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>Yuzuru paced around his room, restless and very awake despite it being a bit after midnight. He was antsy, and his skin was itching, and he knew exactly what it was, and he was still debating with himself if what he had in mind was a good idea. </p><p>It was nice and easy, that thing between him and Javi. They held hands and walk around the ranch and nearby hills, keeping the conversation light and jokes a bit biting, and making a lot of stops to make out. And honestly, that was more than Yuzuru had expected to find in that deserted place, but he couldn’t ignore that hot craving swirling inside him, reminding him that actually it had been some time since his last… intimate encounter, no matter what all the pics were suggesting. And Javi… Javi was hot, and Yuzuru would lie to himself if he said he wouldn’t like to try and move things a bit forward. He knew how Javi looked at him sometimes, and Yuzuru would very much want to see where that could lead. Still, Yuzuru had never really had to figure that out, it was usually him being picked up by others, but Javi insisted on behaving all gentelman-ish, and Yuzuru wasn’t used to that.</p><p>Yuzuru chewed on his bottom lip, stopping in the middle of the room and deciding that well, he really didn’t have anything to lose. He found a pack of peppermint candy and took one, checked his hair and quietly left his room, weirdly glad that Tracy’s bedroom was downstairs.</p><p>“Hello.” Javi smiled when Yuzuru pushed the door of his room “I wasn’t expecting a late night visit.”</p><p>“Oh really?” Yuzuru hummed, stepping closer “At all?”</p><p>“Maybe a little bit.”</p><p>He looked good, with ruffled hair and glasses on his nose, and Yuzuru’s heart skipped a beat as he climbed on the bed and moved to sit in Javi’s lap, big hands closing on his hips immediately. He was warm and beautiful, and sighed quietly when Yuzuru leaned down to kiss him, careful not to smash his glasses. </p><p>“Mhh, I like your toothpaste, can I borrow next time?” Javi hummed and Yuzuru let out a chuckle that quickly turned into a pleased gasp as Javi slid his hand under Yuzuru’s t-shirt, stroking his back. </p><p>“Totally.” Yuzuru murmured breathlessly, curling his fingers in Javi’s hair. </p><p>He loved that position, when he was a little bit higher than Javi and he had to lean down to kiss him. He loved the feeling of control he had, but he also felt so safe, tucked in Javi’s arms, with his warm touch against Yuzuru’s skin. </p><p>Javi was a great kisser, very enthusiastic and very attentive, and Yuzuru couldn’t help but wonder if he was the same during other activities- so he decided to find out. </p><p>“Javi, I have a question-” he sighed, feeling warm lips trailing down his neck “Very serious.”</p><p>“Yes?”</p><p>“Does our summer fun deal includes sexy times?”</p><p>“Well-” Javi hummed hotly, dipping his tongue in the hollow of Yuzuru’s throat before looking up “I hope so?”</p><p>“Good.” Yuzuru said, grinning as he reached to take Javi’s glasses off “I just wanted to hear that.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Yuzuru always knew that Javi had great manual skills, from all the work he was doing around the ranch. But he hadn’t known that those warm, calloused hands could move so gently and so purposefully, making Yuzuru gasp and writhe with pleasure. </p><p>“Damn.” he sighed breathlessly, arching his back and pushing his hips up to chase Javi’s touch “This, yeah-”</p><p>“Yeah?” Javi chuckled fondly, climbing up Yuzuru’s body to kiss him on the mouth. </p><p>Honestly, Yuzuru had been expecting quick, easy thing and he would be more than happy with that, but what he got was a foreplay longer than any of his previous sexual intercourses, and Yuzuru had absolutely nothing against it. He just probably had never had a partner like that before, caring and just wanting both of them to have a good time, and Yuzuru indeed had a great time, his body feeling a little limp and spent in the best way, his toes still curled and muscles still fluttering.</p><p>“I take it was good.” Javi laughed, pressing a kiss to Yuzuru’s chin before lying down next to him and stretching one arm to pull Yuzuru closer “Thank you.”</p><p>“For what?” Yuzuru said, suppressing a yawn. He knew he should probably get up and get going, but he was feeling way too nice in Javi’s embrace to move.</p><p>“For the best late night visit.” Javi chuckled, moving to kiss Yuzuru’s temple “Also, I have a question.”</p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>“Is cuddling a part of our deal?”</p><p>Yuzuru opened his eyes, turning to look at Javi, his warm and sleepy smile, and he could  suddenly feel that the brick wall he had built around his heart was pretty well damaged, and it was terrifying, and unexpected, and Yuzuru had no idea what to think or do about it. So he just nodded silently, not sure if it was a good idea to talk, and he shifted a little so he could hide his face against Javi’s neck, and just breathe. </p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><hr/><p> </p><p>Yuzuru was just about to leave the house- he could hear Javi doing something around the car already- but he stopped by a big mirror hanging in the corridor, and he checked himself out. He looked good, maybe not as dashing as he would dress up for a party or a gig, but the blue bottom-up was fitting him well and complimenting his now-tanned skin nicely. He smiled, pleased, and he was just about to walk away when he spotted Tracy watching him from the kitchen door.</p><p>“Hi.” he said, grinning, and she smiled back, tilting her head.</p><p>“You look nice, honey. Have fun on your little trip.”</p><p>“Thanks.” Yuzuru nodded, but then something flickered in Tracy’s expression, and he felt an unpleasant clench of his stomach.</p><p>“Yuzu, I don’t want to meddle with what’s going on with you and Javi, but I don’t like how you’re keeping the truth from him. I understand that you have your reasons, but if he finds out from someone else, I think he will be very upset.”</p><p>Yuzuru inhaled sharply, blinking, and he felt the unpleasant clench returning with much more force than before. </p><p>“It’s- I know.” Yuzuru mumbled, looking down at his hands “But I think it’s too late now anyway.”</p><p>“Oh Yuzu.” Tracy sighed, and when Yuzuru gained enough courage to look at her, he was partly relieved to see that she didn’t seem mad or disappointed, just caring and a little anxious “I know that it’s summer and it doesn’t have to mean anything, I just want both of you to only have good memories.”</p><p>“I- it will be okay.” Yuzuru said, and it sounded pathetic, as if he was trying to convince mostly himself.</p><p>“Okay.” Tracy nodded, the same caring smile still on her lips “Have a good evening, honey.”</p><p>Javi’s idea of the perfect date seemed to be a picnic, and he was really excited about it, talking as he was driving, and the constant stream of thought helped Yuzuru to collect himself a little and pushed the feeling of guilt to the back of his head. </p><p>The drive wasn’t long and after maybe fifteen minutes Javi parked the car, grinning as he pointed at the top of a nearby hill.</p><p>“Now a short hike, but I swear it’s worth it.” </p><p>“Oh it better be.” Yuzuru said, managing to bring the lightness to his voice as he opened the car door “Wait, is it-” he gasped when he saw what was on the car’s truck.</p><p>“Yes, I stole your guitar so I can trick you into playing me something.”</p><p>“Sneaky.”</p><p>The climb to the top of the hill wasn’t too long, and it was really worth it, because the view spreading from there was truly amazing. Yuzuru was used to living in the city, and broad landscape like that was a little bit intimidating, but now, after days spent there, he was ready to appreciate it. </p><p>“So this is that best place?” he asked teasingly, turning to look at Javi who gasped, pretending to be offended.</p><p>“The best in fifty kilometers distance.”</p><p>Smiling, Yuzuru helped Javi spread blanket on the ground, and then sat down, taking in the view once again. It was the ocean of grass, gentle hills looking pretty in the sun that was slowly making its way behind the horizon, and Yuzuru could swear he also saw that lake him and Javier had kissed by for the first time.</p><p>“So I managed to sneakily prepare this very fancy stuff.” Javi announced, reaching for a bag he had carried from the car “Uhm, sandwiches with salmon, because you like fish, right? Also, I might have stolen some cherry tomatoes from the fridge, and I also have tea and wine, watered down just in case-”</p><p>He looked so proud of himself that Yuzuru couldn’t stop himself and surged forward to kiss him, and he suddenly remembered that he had never been on a real date before and that it was such a nice feeling, to see that someone put so much effort.</p><p>“I love fish.” he mumbled and he could feel Javi smiling against his mouth.</p><p>“Knew it!”</p><p>Yuzuru was pretty sure he was doing a great job, keeping his smile on and praising the food- that turned out to be really decent- but Javi seemed to be sensing something, because his expression softened, and he shifted closer, one hand laying on Yuzuru’s knee. </p><p>“First- I know it’s just a week till your fly back and I hope you’ll be okay with me driving you to the airport. Second,  I’ve never been to Japan but third, I’d like to visit, someday, maybe.”</p><p>Yuzuru blinked rapidly, and he felt a stupid lump forming in his throat, and he kind of wanted to feel annoyed at that, but he couldn’t, really He felt like the face he had been trying to put out for everyone was really crumbling now, and Yuzuru had no idea what to do with that, and what to do with too many emotions coiling inside him. And honestly, it wasn’t something he had been planning, but a part of him didn’t really want to go, didn’t want to let summer and Javi go, but soon it would all just fade away, as Yuzuru would bury the memories under work and recordings and probably some parties.</p><p>But still-</p><p>“First, I’ve never been on a date before.” he said suddenly, and Javi gasped softly, squeezing his knee gently “Second, I’ve never been to Spain, and third… I think I’m going to miss you.”</p><p>“Oh, you only think?” Javi teased, but there was something serious lingering in the corners of his eyes “Come here.” he hummed, wrapping his arms around Yuzuru and pulling him closer, and Yuzuru was glad to hide his face in the crook of Javi’s neck, and could smell that fresh pine shampoo that was sometimes lingering in the bathroom.</p><p>“So, you grew to like the ranch-”</p><p>“I hate the ranch.” Yuzuru mumbled, a little choked out by a realization that he didn’t really hate the ranch, and he wouldn’t mind staying a bit longer.</p><p>“Sure.” Javi laughed warmly, pulling back to look at Yuzuru’s face “You want to play me something?”</p><p>“I guess you deserve.” Yuzuru chuckled, making an effort to keep the smile on and reaching for his guitar. </p><p>For the last few days he was working on a melody, and maybe also on the lyrics, but his throat was clenched and he knew his voice would be terribly squeaky, so he just played. It was a nice melody, soft and maybe a tiny bit country-like, but Yuzuru honestly liked it. He wasn’t sure what the guys would tell about it, but the gentle smile on Javi’s face was all he commentary Yuzuru needed.</p><p>“You should make a career out of it.” Javi smiled, leaning in to brush his lips against Yuzuru’s, chaste and sweet, and something inside Yuzuru broke a little bit.</p><p>“I-” </p><p><em> I already am </em>, he almost said out loud, but he couldn’t, the only sound leaving his mouth being an ugly wheeze, and he let Javi pull him closer and muffle any words he would try to say. </p><p>“Hey.” Javi hummed, wrapping his arms around Yuzuru and guiding them both to lie on the blanket. The sun was halfway hidden down the horizon, sky on the west still bathed in orange, but above their heads, Yuzuru could spot first shy stars blinking at them.</p><p>“You’re okay?” Javi asked, carding his fingers through Yuzuru’s hair, and Yuzuru sighed, turning a little so now he could rest his chin on Javi’s chest, looking him in the eyes. </p><p>“It’s just… I wanted to figure things out, but I feel like it only get more mixed up.”</p><p>“Huh?” Javi blinked, his expression full of innocent confusion, and Yuzuru sighed, shifting and pressing his cheek against Javi’s abdomen.</p><p>“I guess I might like the ranch.” he admitted morosely and Javi chuckled, reaching to caress the top of his head.</p><p>“I knew you would.”</p><p>Maybe Javi was kind of prophet, but he clearly couldn’t read minds, but maybe that was for the best, because Yuzuru wasn’t sure of his own thoughts at all either. </p><p>Javi shuffled a little, and a second later Yuzuru heard a quiet click, and he raised his head just in time to Javi snap another picture of him, smiling smugly. </p><p>“Four, I have bad memory.” he said, sweeping his thumb along Yuzuru’s cheekbone and making him shiver.</p><p>“Four, I really want to kiss you now.” he whispered before following that need, and he didn’t think about what could go wrong anymore. </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“So what exactly is a farmer’s market?” Yuzuru asked, wincing when the car jumped on the particularly nasty bump on the road.</p><p>“Sorry about that. Well, it’s just gonna be, you know, a bunch of people selling chickens, food for chickens, some plants-”</p><p>“And what we’re buying?”</p><p>“Just some fertilizer and something for, well, chickens-”</p><p>“Oh my god, you’re hilarious-”</p><p>“Right? And so modest.”</p><p>Yuzuru snorted, glancing at Javi with a smile and feeling his chest being filled with pleasant, familiar warmth. The last ten days were pretty great, warm and full of laughter, and Yuzuru let himself bask in that, in the brightness that Javi’s presence was giving him. It wasn’t complicated at all, being with Javi, and Yuzuru didn’t feel himself pressured into anything.</p><p>“You want to come with me?” Javi asked and Yuzuru blinked, looking around and realizing they just arrived to the place.</p><p>“Nah, I will take advantage of good reception and make a call.” Yuzuru said, waving with his phone and fishing earphones out of pocket.</p><p>“Cool.” Javi smiled, leaning to give Yuzuru a quick peck on the lips before leaving the car. </p><p>Yuzuru opted for getting out too and he climbed on the trunk, sitting comfortably and opening his group chat. He didn’t think about time zones, though, and he only realized that it was middle of the night in Japan when he saw Keiji’s unimpressed expression. </p><p>“I wasn’t sleeping, but other guys might, oh hi Kazu!”</p><p>“Hiii.” Kazuki yawned “Good to see you, Yuzu! I know for a fact Shoma won’t answer, obviously-”</p><p>“He sleeps like a stone-”</p><p>“Hi Yuzu, hi guys!” Koshiro chimed in, looking sleepy but excited “How are you! There is so much sun!”</p><p>“Doing good guys!” Yuzuru laughed “It’s great to see you!”</p><p>“Oh really? You’re saying you miss us?” Keiji asked, raising his eyebrows and smiling.</p><p>“Maybe a tiny little bit.” Yuzuru teased and Kazuki smiled broadly.</p><p>“You’re in a great mood. Grew to love the ranch?”</p><p>“It’s not the worst place on Earth, I guess. And I might have some song for you guys when we me-”</p><p>“You look different.” Koshiro hummed suddenly “Like… glowing, or something-”</p><p>“What-”</p><p>“Huh, he has a point.” Kazuki agreed, and then his eyes turned wide “Oh my world, you’re hooking up with someone! You- with the Spanish guy?”</p><p>“It’s not like I had other options.” Yuzuru said, rolling his eyes “So yeah, we’re having fun together.”</p><p>“Well, that’s cool, I guess.” Keiji hummed “As long as it won’t appear in the net-”</p><p>“He has no idea about the band and stuff, don’t worry.”</p><p>“Oh.” Koshiro frowned, tilting his head a little “Don’t you think it’s a little bit unfair?”</p><p>“But necessary.” Yuzuru said, immediately going defensive “Brian will have my head if something goes wrong, and I don’t want to mess the press up. We’re on a good wave guys, and I don’t want to risk it.”</p><p>“Yeah.” Keiji hummed quietly, smiling at Yuzuru gently “You do what you think is best. And well, have fun, because when you’re back, we have some serious work to do.”</p><p>They chatted for a few minutes more about their plans, but then Yuzuru noticed Javi coming closer, and he said his quick goodbyes before putting the phone away. </p><p>“Got everything?” he asked and Javi nodded, throwing some stuff on the trunk and then putting his hands on Yuzuru’s knees, smiling widely.</p><p>“And you had a good talk? You’re frowning.” </p><p>“Just missing my friends. But don’t tell them that.”</p><p>“You’re adorable.” Javi chuckled, and Yuzuru wanted to argue and demand to be called sexy, but then Javi put his hand on Yuzuru’s nape, pulling him down into a kiss and silencing him. </p><p>Yuzuru was a bit surprised by that public display of affection, but after a second his muscles relaxed and he just let himself enjoy that.   </p><p>“I will just jump to the store across the road and buy some windscreen washer, okay?” Javi muttered against Yuzuru lipa, and Yuzuru pouted a little, stealing one more kiss.</p><p>“For some reason, it sounded very sexy.”</p><p>“Why am I learning about your kinks only now?” Javi raised his eyebrows before taking a step back “I’ll be right back!”</p><p>Yuzuru followed him with his eyes for a moment before glancing at his phone away, smilie dimming as he opened email with his flight details. It was only two short days away, and Yuzuru winced, wondering if Javi and him should have a talk. He wasn’t exactly an expert at  summer flings, especially when they felt like so… much. But at the same time Yuzuru knew that there was really nothing else to do than say their goodbyes and move on. Well, it wasn’t like Yuzuru was going to be heartbroken or something, he couldn’t wait to go back to Japan and to his famous life, right? And if-</p><p>“Oh my god, it’s you!” </p><p>Yuzuru flinched so hard he almost dropped his phone, and when he looked up he saw a girl standing in front of him, wearing cute shorts and stunned, delighted expression.</p><p>Well, fuck.</p><p>“Oh my god, oh my god, this is so crazy!” she babbled, and he jumped off the truck, smoothing his shirt and bringing on a polite smile.</p><p>“Hello.” he said, noting that she wasn’t probably older than seventeen and had an American accent, and maybe he had a chance that it wouldn’t turn into a disaster “I-”</p><p>“People are getting soooo crazy where are you hiding and why, can I maybe get a picture?” she asked excitedly and Yuzuru’s abilities to fake a smile had never been as challenged as now.</p><p>“I’d prefer not, it’s kind of a secret I’m here. It’s very important to me.”</p><p>“Oh, I see.” she deflated, but at least didn’t seem angry “Well, could you maybe sign my phone case?”</p><p>“Yeah, sure!” </p><p>“Thank you! I so can’t wait for the next album, I’m so excited for the new songs! Will you come to the States?”</p><p>“I hope so.” Yuzuru smiled, a bit more relaxed “Here you go.”</p><p>“Thank you! My friends will be soooo jealous, we actually wanna open your band’s fanclub after I come back home-”</p><p>“That’s aweso-”</p><p>“Zoe, to the car!” yelled some man, waving from a green toyota, and she scowled, rolling her eyes. </p><p>“Ugh, gotta go. It was so awesome meeting you, you’re great!”</p><p>Yuzuru smiled and waved at her before letting out a deep sigh. She had been really nice, and not half as annoying as some of the fans, but it felt so jarring to him, to meet a fan in that moment. He sighed again and turned around, ready to get to the car, and then his heart stopped.</p><p>Javi was standing by the car door, watching him with unreadable expression Yuzuru hadn’t seen on him before, and Yuzuru instantly knew that he was in trouble. He opened his mouth, closed it, and didn’t say a word, because he saw a shadow running through Javi’s eyes, something terribly resembling of betrayal, and it felt like a punch to the gut. </p><p>Javi looked at him for a moment longer before silently getting into the car, and Yuzuru followed him numbly, every muscle of his body feeling awfully tense. He fastened his seatbelt and Javi started the engine, still not saying a word, and Yuzuru couldn’t survive that longer than for two minutes.</p><p>“So you got that washer?” he asked, and he hated how squeaky his voice sounded. He looked at Javi, who seemed to be focused solely on the road, but his jaw was clenched so tight it must have been painful.</p><p>“Javi-”</p><p>“So who are you, exactly?” Javi asked, and it was clear he tried not to sound accusing, but he was failing, a little bit. </p><p>“Well… I’m in a band, in Japan-”</p><p>“You guys famous?”</p><p>“Kind of.” Yuzuru murmured and Javi nodded, glancing at Yuzuru briefly and instantly looking away.</p><p>“And you didn’t really come here to figure things out?” he asked, his voice faltering a little at the end, and Yuzuru blinked rapidly, felt his insides twisting and heart stuttering, and it just really, really hurt. </p><p>“Mom and Brian sent me here because I was giving a bit of trouble-”</p><p>Javi hit the brakes so abruptly Yuzuru gasped, but Javi’s eyes were not wide and full of disbelief, and somehow Yuzuru knew that it was over, whatever was going on.</p><p>“Brian?” </p><p>“Yeah.” Yuzuru said “The one you know. He’s my agent.”</p><p>Javi blinked slowly, and then nodded, turning in his seat and starting the engine again, and it was all going terribly wrong.</p><p>“Javi-”</p><p>“I think I’d like to listen to some music.” Javi said, pressing the radio button so firmly it was a miracle he didn’t crush it. </p><p>They spent the rest of the ride listening to some indie songs that Yuzuru couldn’t even focus on because he was too busy trying to save himself from definite humiliation and not to cry. </p><p>When they arrived, Javi got out of the car silently and immediately started walking the direction they just drove from, and Yuzuru didn’t really think, he just ran after him, catching up with him after a moment.</p><p>“Javi, I’m sor-”</p><p>“I know that you’re sorry.” Javi said, stopping to look at Yuzuru “And you know, I- I kinda get it. Your life must be complicated, I just… I can’t help but be a little upset, okay?”</p><p>He was explaining as if Yuzuru was some child who didn’t get what was going on and what he had done wrong, and for some reason Yuzuru felt incredibly annoyed by that, a mix of emotions filling his body and making his mind go hazy.</p><p>“I couldn’t tell you.” he tried and Javi huffed, a flash of annoyance running through his eyes too.</p><p>“But Tracy knows, right? And I guess… I get why didn’t you tell me at first, but later, when we-”</p><p>“I never knew summer flings were supposed to be that deep.” Yuzuru said, letting his defense system kick in and the irony creep into his tone, and he instantly knew it was a mistake, because Javi’s expression hardened as he took a step back.</p><p>It was almost unbelievable, how suddenly thing went downhill in a blink of an eye.</p><p>“I guess you’re right.” Javi said flatly “Well, then I guess you won’t mind me going now?”</p><p>“Wait.” Yuzuru said, his tongue burning “I need you phone.”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“I don’t think you should have any picture of me.”</p><p>Javi stared at him for a moment, face twisted with hurt and disbelief, and then he took the phone out of his pocket and shoved it into Yuzuru’s hands. </p><p>“Leave it in the kitchen when you’re done.” he said before turning around wand walking away, and Yuzuru just stood there, with a phone in his hands, watching Javi’s silhouette turning smaller and smaller, and truly hating himself.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>love me some cheap rom com drama ahaha :p</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. part IV- in which Yuzuru is miserable (and dramatic)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Never trust me when I set a chapter count, it turned out the drama has it's own update whoops</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Yuzuru took a bite of his food, eyes glued to a plate that was still basically full, and he chewed slowly. It tasted good, but Yuzuru still had hard time swallowing it, and he felt guilty, because Tracy had put so much effort for that last dinner, and she deserved better than that gloomy atmosphere hovering over the table. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Javi was sitting in front of him, and Yuzuru didn’t dare to look up at him, but judging by the frequency of his fork scraping against the plate, he also had some hard time eating. They hadn’t really exchanged a word since that argument after coming back from the town, and Yuzuru hated that, but he didn’t know what he could do about it, or if there was even a point in doing anything. He was leaving the next day, and maybe it was better to just move on and forget as soon as possible. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I think we should leave around eight tomorrow, to be sure you don’t miss your flight.” Tracy said and Yuzuru gritted his teeth before nodding, biting his tongue not to ask why Javi wasn’t going to drive him as he had promised. Yuzuru knew the reasons and there was no point in making already tense situation even worse. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thank you.” he said, throwing a glance at her and managing to send her a smile “I’m mostly packed so I’m… ready.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Good.” Tracy smiled slightly, and then glanced at Javi, back at Yuzuru again, and stood up, taking her plate “I will go check on the horses, if you could put the kettle on when you finish eating, that would be lovely.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sure.” Javi said, sounding suspiciously bright, and once again Yuzuru had to force every fibre in his body not to look at him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Tracy lingered there for a moment longer before leaving the room, and a few moments later the front door clicked, and the silence suddenly grew almost unbearably heavy. Yuzuru kept on staring down, and managed to force a few more bites into himself before giving up. He stood up, ready to take his plate and walk away, but then he looked at Javi, finally, and his stomach churned, and he swallowed hard, feeling a little bit sick. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do-” he mumbled, not even sure what he wanted to say, and he regretted making a sound instantly, because when Javi looked at him, his expression was terribly flat and deprived of any emotions. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Can we-” Yuzuru stammered, vaguely remembering all the sentences he had made up during the last sleepless night, some lame excuse mixed with fire defense of himself, but now he just felt terribly awkward and he kind of wanted to cry. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Javi looked at him for a moment and then stood up, coming closer and standing right in front of Yuzuru, and from so close Yuzuru was able to see some cracks in his unreadable expression, something like sadness lingering in the corner of his eyes and twisting his mouth just a little. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I asked Tracy to drive you. Seems like a better idea.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I-” Yuzuru mumbled, and took a deep breath, gathering all the courage to look Javi in the eyes “What did you expect, Javi?” he asked miserably, and Javi blinked rapidly, and that awfully strange expression finally seeped out of his face and now, he looked just tired and gentle, a a bit more sad than a moment before.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I just wanted to have a nice time with a nice guy.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And then he turned out to be an asshole, huh?” Yuzuru asked, his voice trembling, and Javi sighed, his shoulders dropping as his lips curled up in the smallest of smiles. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“A little bit.” he said quietly, and Yuzuru noticed how his hand twitched, as if he wanted to reach out to touch Yuzuru’s face and had to stop himself from doing so “I still wanted to get to know him better. I wanted-” he cut himself off, smile growing a bit wider but not happier, and Yuzuru wished he had something to drink, because his throat was so dry it was actually painful, only adding to the dull hurt filling his entire body.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s not what I do.” he said and Javi tilted his head, raising his eyebrows in question.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You don’t what? Let people close? Allow yourself to be happy?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m happy.” Yuzuru said quickly, and Javi didn’t say anything, just looked at him, really looked straight into Yuzuru’s eyes, and it was as if something had broken inside him almost completely, and Yuzuru curled his hands, nails digging into skin to try and help him keep himself together.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So I guess it was the obvious truth, when I said I wasn’t the most likeable.” Yuzuru forced himself to say, and he couldn’t even tell if he was attempting it as a joke, but it came out choked out and miserable, and Javi shook his head, taking a step closer. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I wish one day you’ll like yourself as much as I like you.” he said quietly before leaning closer and kissing Yuzuru’s forehead “Goodnight. I’ll see you in the morning before you leave.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He left before Yuzuru had a chance to say something, and Yuzuru was kind of glad. He had no idea what to do anyway.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Yuzuru carefully arranged his bags in the truck and looked at Tracy who was checking under the bonnet, and he wiped his oddly sweaty hands against his jeans.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I will just go fill my water bottle and I’m ready.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay! Make sure you have everything.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She didn’t have to know Yuzuru had left his bottle in the kitchen intentionally, because Javi still hadn’t been downstairs. He was now, though, standing barefoot in the kitchen, looking both sleepy and exhausted, with a cup of coffee in one hand and Yuzuru’s bottle in another.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Here. Filled it for you.” he said, handing it to Yuzuru “Have everything?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes. No. I think yes.” Yuzuru babbled, wrapping his fingers around the item “Thank you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sure.” Javi said, smiling a little “Have a safe flight.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thank you.” Yuzuru repeated, and Javi nodded, and Yuzuru realized that it was truly over. His summer, and whatever it was that thing between him and Javi- it was all in the past, and Yuzuru didn’t think he could carry that with himself, if he wanted to keep some balance in his life.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I need to go.” he breathed out, taking a step back while everything in him wanted to push him forward “I- goodbye.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He basically ran away from there, and didn’t stop until he was sitting in the car. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay, got everything? Then let’s go.” Tracy hummed, starting the engine, and Yuzuru turned away from her to hid his expression and try to keep everything inside. But then he caught the image and the wing mirror, and he saw a familiar silhouette, standing at the front porch and growing smaller and smaller, and in that moment Yuzuru understood, for the first time in his life, what a heartbreak felt like. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He looked until they took the turn and the farm disappeared, and Yuzuru closed his eyes, trying to fight the burning pressure in his skull and failing. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh honey.” Tracy sighed, reaching with one hand to caress his cheek briefly before focusing on the road again “It’s going to be okay.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah.” Yuzuru sniffled, hot drops running down his cheek “I can always hope.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They were set to enter the studio six days after his return, so he couldn’t really blame his terrible looks on jetlag, although he usually wasn’t getting more than three hours of sleep for the past few days. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yuzu!” Koshiro exclaimed loudly when Yuzuru rolled into the studio, sunglasses on his nose and a big cup of coffee in his hand “Hi! How are you? I missed you!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hi.” Yuzuru mumbled, returning the embrace, and he had to admit that the touch was really calming “Hey everyone.” he greeted the rest of the room, and he realized he was the last one to arrive. All the guys were there- Shoma basically napping on the sofa- there was Misha and one technician, and also Brian, busy looking through his papers, and his sight made Yuzuru’s stomach clench, and he vaguely remembered he hadn’t had breakfast yet.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And there he is.” Keiji smiled, always the big brother, as he strolled closer “How can you see anything, take this off.” he ordered, grabbing Yuzuru’s sunglasses and taking them off, and then frowning “Oh.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Damn you look like a racoon!” Kazuki exclaimed, looking over Keiji’s shoulder “You’re okay?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Mhh. Jet lag.” Yuzuru mumbled, and even though they didn’t seem convinced, they nodded, and Yuzuru turned to look at Misha “Good to see you! What’s the plan?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well we’re just going to get through what you guys have written, so we can all grasp the feeling, and I think Monday we kick off with proper recording. Sounds good?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Great.” Shoma muttered, waking up from his slumber ‘Hi Yuzu, why are you looking like a vampire-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay guys, less talking, we don’t have the whole day booked.” Brian chimed in, looking from above his papers “Yuzu, how was your vacation? Enjoyed the ranch?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh he for sure diiiid.” Shoma sang, but Brian ignored that, looking straight at Yuzuru and making his stomach flip. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It was fun. And Tracy is great.” he said shortly and Brian nodded, pleased.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Awesome! Okay, let’s get to work!” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It all went rather smoothly, getting used to the studio work again, catching the flow and playing some songs, discussing once again some changes to make. There was something comforting in that routine, and for a moment Yuzuru felt a spark of excitement about all of that, but then the spark dimmed and he just felt tired and out of place. And it was so wrong, because music had used to be his thing, his escape, but now the guitar in his hands was reminding him of sunset and warm hand on his knee.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay, that sounds nice!” Misha exclaimed, clapping with enthusiasm “You want to take a five, or maybe we can wrap it up for today-?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How are you guys feeling?” Brian asked and Kazuki shrugged, grinning.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m okay with calling it a day, but I vote for Yuzu to play us his brand new song!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh yes, please do, do!” Koshiro gasped with excitement, and Yuzuru swallowed hard, trying to push the sudden bitterness down his throat. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t know-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, show what you have, Yuzu, maybe we can work with it.” Brian said and Yuzuru honestly wanted to yell at him, because it was all his fault, everything. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Fine.” he mumbled, lowering his gaze and taking a deep breath in a weak attempt to calm his heartbeat down.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His eyelids fluttered, and he knew that he wouldn’t be able to stop the flood of memories and feelings from flooding his body- so he didn't try to stop it. It was something he had been trying to do for the past few days, and now he just let it all flow through his entire body, guide his fingers and lips as he told a bittersweet  story he wished it didn’t have to end. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>By the time he finished he was physically and mentally exhausted, and his hands trembled as he put his guitar aside and then finally looking up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Damn.” Shoma gasped, clearly impressed, while Keiji looked outright worried, and Yuzuru didn’t bother to check the rest, because his stomach was flipping and he knew it wasn’t going to end well. He got up, passed everyone and rushed to the bathroom, where he went through humiliating process of getting rid of the ice coffee that bad been his breakfast, and then spent solid five minutes on just bending over the sink with his head under running water until his started to hurt from the cold, and also his hair was a bit wet. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He checked himself in the mirror, and he looked as miserable as he felt, and he didn’t even care. Instead, he felt like he was about to let out a hysterical laughter, because honestly, why he always had to be so dramatic? Well, no it wasn’t like he could help it-</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yuzu?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yuzuru flinched and turned around, and saw Kazuki poking his head inside, eyeing him with worry.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m coming, yeah.” Yuzuru said shortly and Kazuki blinked rapidly, baffled, but followed Yuzuru back to everyone was sitting, a variety of frowns on their faces. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey.” Keiji was first to say, even though Yuzuru could see a few of other also opening their mouth “What’s that? You’re okay?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Normally, Yuzuru would brush it away, change the topic, drop some joke and suggest everyone to have a drink. But he wasn’t really feeling like himself, or maybe not like his previous self, but like a brand new person he still didn’t get to know very well. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That was a great idea, with sending me to Canada.” Yuzuru said flatly, moving his gaze to Brian.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Huh?” Brian asked, narrowing his eyes with confusion, and Yuzuru smiled, although judging by Shoma’s weird expression, it didn’t look too good.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It was truly great, you know. I rode on a horse and got bitten by mosquitoes almost to death, but at least I learned how to make cookies-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What.” Shoma wheezed, but Keiji silenced him with a palm over his mouth and a threatening glance, but Yuzuru didn’t even care anymore. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Also I met probably the best guy in the world, but since we’re all so afraid of a scandal and all, I didn’t tell him anything and well, here we are! But at least I wrote I nice song, heartbreak is selling well-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, Yuzu, calm down-” Koshiro said, standing up and touching his shoulder soothingly “You look pale, do you want to sit-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t!” Yuzuru snapped, and he was both hurt and annoyed and sad and way too many things for his body to handle “What I want is to, to-” he faltered, and actually dropped down on the nearest chair.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yu-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I told him to delete all the photos, and I didn’t even apologize for that.” Yuzuru muttered and the last word almost drown in Brian’s loud gasp.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What photos?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t worry about that.” Yuzuru sighed, hiding his face in his hand “All is good, all is handled.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It doesn’t sound like it’s good.” Keiji noticed, finally freeing Shoma’s mouth.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It sounds very dramatic, though.” Shoma muttered, but his smile was full of compassion. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So-” Brian cleared his throat, looking terribly uncomfortable, while Misha’s face was smooth like a stone “Let’s call it a day. Yuzu, can I have a moment?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Everyone left the studio at the speed of lightning, and when it was only the two of them left, the Canadian cleared his throat again, looking at Yuzuru with concern.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yuzu, I need to ask-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Did you know he was going to be there?” Yuzuru cut in, even though that question wasn’t really important.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I didn’t think about that. I know that he comes there every year but I don’t know specifics-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s fine.” Yuzuru rubbed his face “Anyway, everything’s okay. Nothing happened.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It looks like something did.” Brian said gently and Yuzuru winced, looking at him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, I’m pretty sure I’m in love, for the first time. And you know what? It sucks.” he stood up and grabbed his bag, squeezing the handle way too hard “I will see you on Monday.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A part of him was hoping it was the end of conversations for the day, but when he exited the building and saw all his badmantes huddled by the door, he couldn’t help but smile.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey guys. Sorry about that.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“All is good.” Kazuki said, throwing his arm around Yuzuru’s shoulders “Now we’re going for a drink so we can talk about the plan.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What plan?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How to get your dude back.” Shoma announced as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Come on, you wrote the best sad love song sincea<em> It's a</em></span>
  <em>
    <span>ll coming back to me now,</span>
  </em>
  <span> and you know that nothing beats Celine in my book.” Kazuki stressed, squeezing Yuzuru’s arm “He must be amazingly great, so you should get him. Now, I know a place just around the corner that has happy hours just now-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I-” Yuzuru mumbled, trying to form a coherent sentence, but in the end he just let himself to be dragged to the bar, and the only thought ringing in his tired brain was that he was really grateful for his friends.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. part V- aka everything is a rom-com</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey there! I kinda had a busy week, but I hope you will like the last chapter of this story!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Okay, I think this.” Kazuki said, spreading his hand in a dramatic gesture “We bully Brian and the crew into adding Spain to the concert list, and we-”</p><p>“That sounds good, but we’re not going on the tour for like, at least not next two months, you know the details are being arranged just now.” Keiji said, leaning over the table and taking a sip of his drink, and Yuzuru was mildly impressed with him ordering a vodka sour at barely 4pm “I think time is of the essence here, right?”</p><p>“True! Okay, Yuzu, do you have any preference how you want it to go-”</p><p>“I’m-” Yuzuru muttered, staring at his glass and then looking up at the faces of his friends “I’m confused?”</p><p>“Take a sip, you look overwhelmed.” Koshiro said, looking at him with sympathy “You want some water?” he asked, tapping his own glass. He wasn’t old enough to drink, and he shouldn’t be even allowed to enter that bar, but Kazuki’s regular customer status was very helpful. </p><p>“I’m good.” Yuzuru smiled weakly, taking a long gulp of his mojito and then inhaling deeply, trying to get himself back together “Guys, I’m so grateful, but I don’t think… I don’t know if there’s anything that can be done.”</p><p>“Why’s that?” Shoma asked, raising his eyebrows “You don’t think he feels the same?”</p><p>Yuzuru gasped softly, and thought about Javi’s gentle smile and laugh that would linger in the air, and how he had never let Yuzuru leave in the morning, wrapping an arm around his waist and pulling him close. He thought about the melody he had played for him, and the way Javi’s eyes twinkled in his presence. He thought about the hurt in his eyes and familiar warmth of his lips pressed against Yuzuru’s forehead, and he had his answer. </p><p>“I think he might.” he let himself admit and the guys grinned at him widely. </p><p>“Well then all is good, we just have to-”</p><p>“But Brian and mom-”</p><p>“Oh for god’s sake, don’t.” Keiji said, shaking his head “You know that their opinion matters only to some extent, right? They don’t want anything bad for you, for us, but you can’t let their expectation dictate your life.”</p><p>“Exactly!”</p><p>“True!”</p><p>Yuzuru looked at them, at their open, caring faces, and he realized how much it meant to them, how much he meant to them, and he felt a sting somewhere close to his heart, and had to clear his throat not to start bawling. Honestly, falling in love made him much more vulnerable than before and a part of him hated it while the other one was kind of glad that most of his previous facade was gone.</p><p>“Guys, I’m so grateful you’re doing this, really.” he said, smiling despite the fact that everything inside him pulsed with pain “But I don’t… I’m not sure if he would want… that. You know how our lives look like and I have no idea how to keep a relationship like that.”</p><p>“Well I can give you some tips.” Shoma chimed in carelessly and they all turned to look at him, gasping.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Uh, so this is how you get to know, I guess.” Shoma muttered, taking his phone off “So you remember that concert in Osaka last year? I met that guy in the hotel, we got some drinks, and well, we’ve been together since then?”</p><p>“Wait, you’re saying that you’ve been hiding a boyfriend from us for the past eight months?”</p><p>“Yep.” Shoma nodded, waving his phone at them, a photo displayed on the screen “His name is Jason, he’s great.”</p><p>“I’m half mad and half impressed.” Keiji whistled, and Yuzuru reminded himself to stop gawking, because honestly, that was the last thing he would expect, quiet and grumpy Shoma getting himself a secret boyfriend.</p><p>“Thanks.” Shoma grinned, and looked at Yuzuru “You know, maybe it won’t work out. Some things just aren’t meant to be, no matter how much we want them. But I think that you guys deserve a honest conversation or it will be killing you from inside.”</p><p>“Damn.” Kazuki whistled “Shoma, you wise!”</p><p>“And so romantic!” Kazuki sighed, delighted, and Shoma rolled his eyes, even though he was still smiling.</p><p>“I’m not a romantic one in this relationship. Anyway, Yuzu, like I said- you guys should talk. So now the question is, how do we do this?”</p><p>“I don’t even have his number.” Yuzuru mumbled and Kazuki hummed, tilting his head.</p><p>“I might just have an idea.”</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“Uhh, excuse me?” Brian asked, eyes growing huge, and Kazuki smiled at him so sweetly Yuzuru almost wished he hadn’t put sugar in his coffee.</p><p>“I just feel so burnt out!” Kazuki exclaimed, touching his forehead in a dramatic gesture “Like I can’t focus, the terrible predictability of days is killing my artistic drive!”</p><p>“But-” </p><p>“He kinda has a point, I would love some change of scenery.” Keiji added, playing along.</p><p>“You guys just came back from vacation!” Brian exclaimed, exasperated.</p><p>“Yes, but it’s different! Like, maybe changing work environment would help our creativity?” </p><p>“Let me get things straight.” Brian said, rubbing his forehead “You want to fly to god knows where to record the album? Now that we just started?”</p><p>“It’s better now than in the middle, right? And we so should take Misha with us, Misha, are you up for a trip?”</p><p>“I would love to.” Misha nodded, somehow managing to look both stoic and excited- Brian, on the other hand, made a sound of betrayal.</p><p>“Misha?!”</p><p>“I know for a fact that changing the scenery can do wonders to someone’s spirit.” he said and Brian sighed deeply, defeated. </p><p>“Okay, what the fu- I mean, where would you guys want to go? What sounds inspiring enough?” he asked, almost ironic, and Koshiro jumped with excitement, so innocent and happy Brian would have to be a monster to be rude to him.</p><p>“I found like, really cheap flights to Spain! For tomorrow, so we don’t waste time!”</p><p>“Spain.” Brian said flatly, and then glanced at Yuzuru, and suddenly his expression softened, all of his annoyance draining off in an instant “Well then. Koshi, email me what you have, I will take care of flight and hotel. Misha, I bet you have contacts everywhere, how fast you think you could arrange us some studio in Madrid?”</p><p>“In fifteen minutes.” Misha said seriously, already typing something on his phone “I have a very good friend of mine in Madrid, Felipe.”</p><p>“Great. Well then-” Brian sighed, and for a moment Yuzuru felt bad for putting him through so much, but it was for a good cause “I guess you guys go pack and I’ll call you with the details in the evening.”</p><p>“Yay, you’re the best agent!” Kazuki clapped, standing up “I need to go find my Panama hat-”</p><p>“Yeah, yeah.” Brian sighed, and found Yuzuru’s eyes with his “You could have just ask, you know.” he chuckled, and Yuzuru raised his eyebrows.</p><p>“Really?”</p><p>“Really.” Brian said, coming closer and putting a hand on Yuzuru’s shoulder “Look, part of my job is to help you guys keep a good press, and that means keeping you out of… trouble. But when it comes to the matter of heart, I’m not going to meddle, as long as you stay reasonable.” he explained, and then smiled fondly, shaking his head a little “And, you know… I think it’s a good idea, you and Javi.”</p><p>“Yeah?” Yuzuru muttered, his throat itching, and Brian chuckled warmly.</p><p>“Yes. Maybe not at the first sight, but…” he shrugged, and then clapped his hands vigorously “Okay, time to run, a million things to do! And Yuzu?”</p><p>“Yes?”</p><p>“You’re telling your mother.”</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t understand!” his mom stressed, following him across the room as Yuzuru was packing his suitcase, with much more care than the last time “This sounds like the most ridiculous idea ever!”</p><p>“Well we all think that it can benefit us, running away from the spotlight. And Misha knows a good studio so all is settled.”</p><p>“Okay.” she rubbed her face “I see. I still don’t get why you have to go to Spain for something you can very well do here.” </p><p>Yuzuru closed his eyes for a moment, fingers clutching on a shirt he was holding, and he put it down carefully before turning around to look at her. </p><p>“Mom.” he started, and he had to clear his throat because his voice was faltering “I want to go to Spain.”</p><p>“You grew to like travelling so much? I-”</p><p>“No, it’s-” he swallowed hard, and just decided to put it all out there “Mom, I fell in love.” </p><p>She blinked, a confused frown forming on her face, and Yuzuru just wanted to hug her, tell her that we was going to be a good son from now on, if she would only be okay with him having that one thing.</p><p>“Oh.” she gasped, and Yuzuru could tell that she wasn’t sure how to act. She didn’t have problem with scolding him for his antics, but that they had never really talked about feelings like that “Well, that’s- with who?”</p><p>“His name is Javi.” Yuzuru said, looking her in the eyes “I met him in Canada, but he lives in Spain. He… he’s wonderful, and I just want to tell him that.” </p><p>He didn’t mean to sound dramatic, but suddenly he felt tears prickling in the corner of his eyes, and she must have noticed that too, because her expression turned soft and loving.</p><p>“Oh Yuzu.” she sighed, reaching to caress his cheek “You really are in trouble.”</p><p>“You’re not mad?” he asked, and sighed again, softer than before.</p><p>“I knew it was going to happen one day. I was always wondering… I was dreading that, a little bit.”</p><p>“Why?”</p><p>“Well, it’s going to make things a little complicated.” she chuckled “And also it means that you’re all grown up now.”</p><p>“I don’t like that.” Yuzuru admitted, voice trembling a little, and his mom smiled.</p><p>“Don’t worry, sweetheart, I’m always going to be here. And now let’s find something nice for you to wear.”</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Yuzuru knew that he probably should have waited a little, give himself a chance to sleep the flight off and calm himself down, because for the whole journey he hadn’t managed to close his eyes for more than ten minutes. So when they got into the hotel, he took a shower, drank a glass of water, put on a shirt that was the least wrinkled out of all of them, and decided to avoid looking in the mirror, because he knew that he wasn’t looking his best. His friends seemed to think the same, because when he left the room they were waiting for him, even Shoma, who was dozing off on Keiji’s shoulder, they didn’t seem too impressed. </p><p>“Ahh, Yuzu, maybe it’s not the best idea to go now, maybe you should go and get some rest?” Koshiro asked, and Shoma opened his eyes, looking Yuzuru over.</p><p>“Nah, he looks just the right amount of miserable, it might play in our favor.”</p><p>“Great.” Keiji snorted “I called an uber, so let’s get downstairs.”</p><p>Yuzuru hadn’t been sure how to find Javi or contact him, but Kazuki did some spying on the hockey club Javi was teaching at and they apparently were having some summer camp thing, which seemed like the perfect opportunity. And now, huddled in an uber- Keiji already diving into a conversation with a very friendly driver- Yuzuru was trying to think what the hell he was going to say.</p><p>He was afraid. </p><p>It would be easier to just go on the stage and sing that song he had written, but he knew that Javi would appreciate a honest talk more than some grand romantic gesture. Yuzuru owed him honesty, and that was what he was going to do. </p><p>On the way to the rink Keiji and Kazuki told the taxi driver Yuzuru’s entire love story, and the guy was so impressed he gave them recommendations of the best bars and wished them all the luck. </p><p>“Thanks.” Yuzuru smiled tightly, kinda feeling like he was going to puke, and hopped out of the car. </p><p>There was a girl sitting at the rink reception, a bit surprised at their sight, but when Kazuki told her that they were Javi’s friends she brightened up like a little sun.</p><p>“Oh cool! I’m sure it’ll cheer him up, he’s been a bit gloomy recently. He should be wrapping up his lesson, follow this corridor till the end, big blue doors!”</p><p>It felt like forever, walking there, and Yuzuru had never been more nervous in his life, and he performed in front of thousands of people. But now he was in a small rink in Spain, it was warm summer afternoon, and his heart was about to jump out of his chest. The guys were keeping close behind him, and Yuzuru was a bit conflicted about that- he loved them for supporting him so much, but at the same time he was a bit sceptical about them witnessing what was going to happen, whatever it was. </p><p>Yuzuru swallowed hard, stopping in front of the door for a moment. </p><p>He had been trying so hard not to get his hopes up, because there was so many things that could go wrong, or not even wrong, maybe Javi wasn’t even into him that much. But for whatever it was worth, Yuzuru had to try, so he took a deep breath and pushed the door, walking in on wobbly legs. </p><p>He spotted him immediately, even though his back was turned to Yuzuru, he would recognize Javi’s silhouette everywhere. He was wearing red training pants and black t-shirt that was making his back and shoulders look really nice, and Yuzuru’s heart stuttered against his ribs as he took a few steps closer to the boards. </p><p>Javi was explaining something to a small group of boys and girls, looking at him like he was the most interesting painting in the world, and Yuzuru was understanding that feeling completely, eyes fixed on the back of Javi’s head, noticing that his hair was a bit longer and more curly than before, and Yuzuru had no freaking clue what to do.</p><p>The problem was solved for him, though, when a tiny girl with two braids looked straight at him, and her big eyes narrowed with interest. She said something in Spanish, waving in Yuzuru’s direction, and Javi’s shoulder tensed before he span around and looked straight at Yuzuru, eyes wide with surprise. </p><p>They looked at each other for what felt like an hour, and Yuzuru went from feeling sick to invasion of butterflies fluttering in his stomach, and he would stay like that longer if it weren’t for Shoma’s not really discreet whistle.</p><p>“Damn, he’s hot.”</p><p>“Oh my god, shut up.” Kazuki hissed in a way too loud whisper, reminding Yuzuru of their presence, and Javi seemed to be reminded of the reality too, because he turned to the kids, telling them something quickly. They let out an appreciating yell and went to the other side of the rink to do some exercises and Javi slowly skated closer, eyes fixed on Yuzuru’s face.</p><p>He looked like he had a million questions, but he didn’t say anything, just looked at Yuzuru with baffled expression, opening his arms in half inviting, half questioning way. </p><p>“Hi.” Yuzuru breathed out, his voice coming out a bit higher than usual “Surprise?”</p><p>“Yeah.” Javi chuckled, a bit awkward “Real surprise. You brought your friends?”</p><p>“Yes, we… we’re going to record an album in Madrid.” Yuzuru explained clumsily and Javi gaped.</p><p>“In here?”</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>“That’s… far from home.”</p><p>“It is.” Yuzuru agreed, his throat itching “But it seemed like a good idea.”</p><p>“Why?” Javi asked, and he was still standing on the ice, well too far for Yuzuru’s liking, so he took a careful step forward, stepping on the slippery surface. </p><p>“I need to talk to you-”</p><p>“Yuzu, wait, I-”</p><p>Yuzuru didn’t wait, and that turned out to be a big mistake, because when he took another step, it turned out that his fashionable sneakers weren’t made for walks on the ice. He lost his balance, and slipped, and the last thought in his head before he knocked his head into unconsciousness was that he was truly and utter disaster.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <em> “Is he even alive?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “I think he’s breathing-” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “...” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Injdsbsdhd!” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “By the way, nice to meet to, Javi, we’ve heard so much about you-” </em>
</p><p>The voices surrounding him were muffled and at the same time terribly loud, and Yuzuru wanted to tell them all to shut up, but his tongue was very stiff and he decided to rather put his energy into opening his eyes.</p><p>He saw a bunch of people looming over him, his friends, a lot of kids and Javi, kneeling right next to him, face twisted with worry, and he was so close and so handsome Yuzuru’s lips spread in a smile.</p><p>“Okay, that looks weird.” Shoma muttered “Yuzu, hello, you’re alive?”</p><p>“Guys, back off a little, give him space.” Javi ordered, then adding something in Spanish, and after a moment it was only him left in Yuzuru’s sight “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”</p><p>“Hmmmm.” Yuzuru hummed, because everything was still a little blurry, but he was more and more aware of a pulsing ache in the back of his head and cold seeping into his back and legs. </p><p>“Oh god.” Javi sighed, reaching out to touch Yuzuru’s forehead “What the heck are you doing, Yuzu?”</p><p>“I’m on a mission from God.” Yuzuru muttered and Javi snorted, leaning down even closer.</p><p>“Did you just quote Blues Brothers?”</p><p>“I was watching movies on the plane.” Yuzuru said, using all his energy to lift his hands and wrap them around Javi’s neck “I need to tell you something.”</p><p>“Tell me what?”</p><p>“I-” Yuzuru swallowed hard, and his head was still swimming a little, and he was kind of cold, but Javi was so close so he didn’t really care “I want to apologize.”</p><p>“It’s okay.” Javi muttered, sounding kind of dazed, and he was cupping Yuzuru’s cheek now, hand as warm and calloused as Yuzuru remembered “I get it.”</p><p>“You don’t get all.”</p><p>“Like what?”</p><p>“Like that I’m in love with you.”</p><p>It wasn’t how he had planned it to go, truly. Not being splattered on the ice, getting cold and wet, with Javi kneeling down next to him and other people around, but he didn’t really care, because he was very tired and very in love, and Javi gasped loudly, eyes going wide.</p><p>“Just wanted to tell you that.” Yuzuru added and Javi’s mouth twitched, as if he was about to laugh.</p><p>“You’re such an asshole.” he breathed out, and then he was leaning down and pressing his lips to Yuzuru’s, and for three blissful seconds everything was perfect in the world, but then Yuzuru’s ears were filled with loud clatter and cheerings coming from the side, and Javi drew back with a groan. </p><p>“Can you stand up?” he asked, and Yuzuru nodded, although his head was still spinning, and the moment he stood straight he had to basically fall into Javi’s arms and close his eyes to make the world go back into its axis.</p><p>“Yo, that was the cutest stuff I’ve seen in my life, I’m glad I recorded it-”</p><p>“So these are my friends.” Yuzuru muttered against Javi’s shoulder “They’re your big fans.”</p><p>“Oh really.” Javi chuckled, his arms secure around Yuzuru’s middle “Can’t wait to meet them properly.” he said, and then said something in Spanish, what ignited cheerful comments from his student, but they walked out dutifully.</p><p>“Okay, let’s go back to the hard ground.” Javi hummed, carefully guiding Yuzuru back to stand on the floor “So-” he trailed off, scratching the back of his neck “I’m, uhh-”</p><p>“Just tell him if you love him back!” Kazuki yelled “Because I really want to know if we’re doing happy drinking or sad drinking tonight.”</p><p>“Oh fuck.” Yuzuru huffed miserably, because it was probably the least romantic scenario he could ever imagine, but Javi smiled widely, looking delighted.</p><p>He gently grabbed Yuzuru’s chine and guided him to look up, a big, warm smile on his lips.</p><p>“We have so much to talk about.” he said, his eyes sparkling “But I guess I can start with saying that I love you too.”</p><p>That time when they kissed, wild cheers from the stands didn’t stop them at all.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Yuzuru didn’t wake up by himself.</p><p>“Hey.” he heard as he was slowly coming back to the world of living, warm hands skimming over his sides and torso “You look all cute when you’re sleeping, but you need to fight that jet lag and you know it.”</p><p>“Mhhhh.” Yuzuru hummed, still half asleep, and he opened his eyes to see Javi’s warm chocolate eyes and messy hair, and his heart went crazy all of the sudden “Morning.”</p><p>“Hello.” Javi smiled, surging down to steal a short kiss from Yuzuru’s mouth before moving to nip on his jaw gently, and Yuzuru sighed, letting his eyes close just for a second.</p><p>After the scene they had pulled at the rink they all went to get some food and a drink nearby, since they all were hungry, and Yuzuru was happy to see that his friends and Javi were getting along so good together. They didn’t stay long, though, exhausted after long travelling and all the emotions, and Yuzuru was hanging somewhere between the ecstatic happiness, feeling surreal and a slight headache. </p><p>They had come to Yuzuru’s hotel room and Yuzuru dropped dead on the bed in a very unsexy manner, only managing to snuggle into Javi’s embrace, but now he was almost fully awake, and feeling a bit less surreal than the day before. </p><p>“Javi?” he murmured, tangling his fingers in Javi’s hair and pulling gently, making him look up “I’m really sorry.”</p><p>“I know. And I told you, it’s okay.” </p><p>“But I was awful.” Yuzuru swallowed with difficulty, for some reason memories resonating in him even stronger “With not telling you, and with pictures-”</p><p>“I will just take new ones.” Javi grinned, reaching for his phone and snapping a quick pic “Here, now I can blackmail you-”</p><p>“Stooop!” Yuzuru whined, covering his eyes “This is embarrassing.”</p><p>Javi shook his head, and kissed Yuzuru’s neck briefly before looking up at him, his smile the warmest in the world.</p><p>“I’m taking you out for breakfast, so we can start discussing my status of a <em> rock star’s boyfriend </em> and stuff. But before that, I really want to listen to that famous song Koshiro told me about yesterday.”</p><p>“You’ve heard that already, just without singing.”</p><p>“But I want to hear that supposedly most romantic love confession since the 90’s…”</p><p>Yuzuru laughed, and showed at Javi’s shoulder only to pull him closer a second later.</p><p>“This is so weird.” he said quietly, letting his hands trace Javi’s features “I went to freaking Manitoba thinking it was going to be the most terrible time of my life, but then I met you, and-”</p><p>“And what?”</p><p>“And I learned the most terrible time is without you.”</p><p>“Aww.” Javi chuckled, kissing the tip of Yuzuru’s nose “You’re such a poet. I can’t wait for that song.”</p><p>Yuzuru laughed, and reached for his guitar.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you so much for reading guys &lt;333</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you so much for reading! Don't hesitate to tell me what you think and take care &lt;333</p></blockquote></div></div>
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